Will it never end?
by Morganvilleresident09
Summary: After her big fight with Shane, Claire decides she needs to leave town. But when she moves to a little town called forks and meets the Cullens', Claire begins to wonder if she'll ever be able to escape the vampires. Plz R&R. thnx!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – (Nobody's POV)

'I can't do this anymore Shane!' Claire yells at him.

'Well then go!' he yells back. 'Go on, go! You'll just come back. Hell, you probably won't even get out of the door before you lose your nerve!'

Claire gasps. 'You don't mean that' she says quietly.

'Yeah? You wanna try me?'

'Shane how many times do I have to tell you? He's my boss that is it!'

Eve and Michael had taken off a while back. They were busy trying to find something to do in the boring town of Morganville to avoid all the arguing.

'If you let me walk out of that door then I won't come back! You'll never see me again!'

'I'll take my chances.' He mutters under his breath.

Claire loses it. She storms up to her room, grabs her suitcase from under the bed, and starts filling it with all of her things. She packs her clothes first, then her books, then pictures and every other thing she can fit in. she zips the suitcase up and drags it to the front door. She pulls out her phone and dials Amelie. She answers on the third ring.

'Hello, Claire. What can I do for you?'

'I want out' was all Claire says.

'Are you sure? Your services have done great things for this town. We wouldn't despise the idea of you staying for a little longer'

'No' Claire says, flatly. 'I want out. No arguing'

'I'll have your pass ready in ten minutes. I will send for Oliver to come for you. He will then bring you to me and you will be free to go from there.'

'Thank you Amelie' Claire says, before hanging up.

Shane comes out of the living room and eyes her suitcase. His face, full of anger and stupid pride, falters slightly before the mask of arrogance returns.

'Guess this is goodbye then Shane' Claire says, tears filling her eyes.

'Yep. Guess so. Well… until you come crawling back here, as per usual' He replies.

God his pride can turn him into such a dick when it wants to.

'You're an asshole' she says. And holds her chin high as she grabs the suitcase, opens the door, and storms out. She slams the door behind her and sits down on the front steps, waiting for Oliver to arrive.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – (Claire's POV)

Oliver pulls up in his black tinted car and before it's even fully stopped I am climbing into the passenger seat, throwing my suitcase in the back. Before we drive off, I take one last look at the house that I used to call my home. It looks exactly the same as it did on the first day I saw it. Huge, and a little creepy. Shane doesn't watch as we drive away.

'So,' Oliver says, amused. 'Fight with the boyfriend?' I just glare at him.

'None of your damned business' I snap.

'Don't use that tone with me, child. I've had to drop everything so I can take you to Amelie. If it were up to me, you wouldn't be allowed to up and leave like this.'

Well it's a good thing that it's not up to you then isn't it? I think bitterly. But I don't say it out loud, I know better than to do that. Instead I say,

'Just think of it this way, the quicker you get me to Amelie, the quicker you're rid of me.'

'Well, when you put it like that…' he muses.

When we arrive at the Founder's building, I climb out of the car, grabbing my suitcase.

'Goodbye Oliver' I say as I'm about to shut the car door. He doesn't bother replying, and as soon as the door slams shut he speeds off.

I walk into the Founder's building and before I have even shut the door behind me Amelie is standing there, an almost sad expression on her face… almost. I hadn't even heard her approaching and I inwardly shiver. Vampire stealth, it still gives me the creeps.

'Ahh, young Claire.' Amelie sighs.

'Have you got it?' I ask.

She holds up a piece of paper and hands it to me. On it, it reads:

'Claire Danvers,

You have my permission, and my blessing, to leave this town and never return,

Signed Amelie'

I smile. 'Thank you so much Amelie.'

She sighs. 'I can't say that I won't miss your company my dear Claire. I have grown very accustomed to you over the period of time that I have known you. But as I have already said, you have done great service for this town. Think of this as my way of thanking you for all your help.'

For some reason, I can feel tears threatening to shed. 'You know what Amelie? I know how weird this is gonna sound but, I think I'm going to miss you too' she smiles.

'Good luck, Claire Danvers. I hope you get all you wish for. Oh, and you are one of the few people that I am allowing to remember, so do not worry when you don't forget anything.' And she begins to walk away. But there's something else I have to ask her.

'Um, Amelie?' she turns to face me.

'Yes, Claire?'

'Um, could you please tell Myrnin that I said goodbye. Tell him I'm going to miss him to?' I ask, suddenly feeling very sad.

'Of course I will dear Claire. Do not worry. I will tell him that you didn't just leave without knowing someone would inform him.'

'Thanks' is all I manage to say. I know it sounds crazy, but… I'm really going to miss this place.

As soon as Amelie has disappeared I turn and walk back outside, there's already a car ready waiting to take me away. I climb in.

'I will be taking you to an even smaller town just outside of Morganville' the driver tells me, 'but from there you will make your own way.' I nod once and we drive off. I stare out of the window, not really seeing, but lost in my own thoughts. I don't notice that I'm crying, I'm too deep in thought. When we reach the town boarders, we keep going. I look behind me just once, and take one last look at everything I'm leaving behind.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – (Shane's POV)

It's been about five minutes since Claire walked out the door. I'm not worried though. She normally just sulks outside until I come out and apologise, or until it gets dark, she might be stubborn but she's not stupid. Anyway, whichever one comes first. I sigh and walk over to the door, knowing that the argument was all down to me, ready to apologise. I open the door, thinking my apology through in my head before saying it to Claire. But there's one small problem, she's not here. Normally she will be sat down on the bottom step to the far left. But the bottom step is empty.

'Claire!' I call out. But there's no answer. 'Claire c'mon! where are you hiding?' I walk around the back, expecting her to be sunbathing out on the grass or something.

'Claire I'm-', I stop. She's not out the back either. Ok, so now I'm starting to panic slightly. She never takes it this far. Has she really gone? Did I take it a step too far? Has she really left me?

I push the thought away. No. she wouldn't have left me.

'Claire?' I call out again, there's slightly more worry in my voice. 'Claire! Claire, where are you?'

Relax, Shane. She's probably just met up with Eve and Michael. I reassure myself. I walk back inside and try calling her cell. She doesn't answer. She must be really pissed. I'll just wait for them all to get back and start with the begging. I text Michael,

'Dnt b 2 long'

and turn on the Xbox.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – (Claire's POV)

A few minutes after I leave the town borders I get a call. I look at my phone's caller ID. Shane. I press the cancel button and turn off my phone. I don't want to have to talk to him right now. I'm still way too pissed.

(Michael's POV)

It's been about an hour since me and Eve had left the house, we just couldn't be arsed to deal with all Claire's and Shane's bullshit today. I get a text from Shane. It reads,

'Dnt b 2 long'

I roll my eyes and turn to Eve. We're just on our way out of Common grounds, the coffee shop that Eve works at. Her boss Oliver had to suddenly take off about twenty minutes ago but he came back. Me and Eve both thought that it was a little weird but we didn't question him on it, we know better than to do things like that.

'I think World War Three has officially ended now,' I tell her, showing her the text.

'Oh, thank God for that. I want to go home!'

'Then let's go' I say smiling. She smiles back, kisses me lightly on the lips, and we walk to my sun-proof car and drive home.

(Claire's POV)

The car pulls over when it reaches Malta, the little town that the driver had told me about, and I grab my stuff and get out.

I wave thanks to the driver as he slowly pulls away and make my way over to the airport, I'm actually surprised this town has an airport because it's that small, and quickly book some tickets. I already know exactly where I'm going, I'm going to go and pay my uncle Charlie and my cousin Bella a visit.

Bella got married about a year ago, I know because I got sent an invitation, but… let's just say that Amelie wasn't so generous back then and I couldn't get hold of a pass. Anyway I hear her husband is called Edward Cullen, but I haven't actually met him yet. You see, me and Bella used to be like best friends. When she lived with her mum that is. But since she's moved to forks I've been seeing less and less of her. We hardly call and chat anymore, and when we do it's not for more than ten minutes, because of the cost and all. So it's about three calls a year and, before I went to Morganville this is, I used to go down and visit her for a week once a year. When I see her we get on like old times and I can't wait to see her again, I haven't seen her in at least two years.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – (Shane's POV)

I hear the front door open and I stand up and walk out to meet Claire. I see Michael first, then Eve… but there's no Claire.

'Where is she?' I blurt out in a panic.

They both stare at me like I'm crazy. 'Who?' Michael asks.

'Claire!'

'Ha ha, Shane. Very funny. You almost had us,' Eve says, rolling her eyes. I run to the door and swing it open. I scan the street for any sign of her, but there's none. Nothing.

'Claire!' I yell out into the night but there's no one there.

'Dude, please tell me you're joking,' Michael says, staring at me. I turn on him.

'Do you really think I would joke about something as serious as this? Really? Do you think I am that low?'

Eve runs for the door but Michael grabs her by the waist.

'No, Eve. It's too dangerous for you. I'm the vampire, I'll go. You two stay here and keep ringing her cell.'

'I can't just wait here and do nothing!' I yell at him.

'You won't be doing nothing. You'll be trying to ring her cell. How come she's not with you anyway?'

I quickly tell them about what happened. About how she walked out, and how I couldn't find her outside. 'That's why I thought she was with you!' I finish off in a panic.

Michael quickly takes vamp speed out of the house to try and find Claire.

'How could you just let her walk out?' Eve yells in my face. I sit down quickly on the couch and bury my face in my hands.

'I don't know!' I moan, fighting back tears.

'You're such an asshole, Shane! If we don't find her, or worse, we find her dead, then I will blame you forever and never forgive you!'

'If she's found dead then I will join her shortly!' I explode back. 'I can't live without her Eve! You know that!'

Eve just glares at me and pulls out her phone. She quickly dials and waits, after a while she says into the phone, 'Hey, Claire, it's me. Look I get that you don't want to talk to this prick right now and I don't really blame you, but if you could just call me back when you get this message and let me know that you're not about to have your blood drained by a vamp, then I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!' and hangs up. We keep on calling Claire's cell… but she never answers.

(Michael's POV)

Right now I am out looking for Claire. I can't believe Shane let her just walk out, he should know better… but then again, I guess she should as well. Claire isn't stupid, and she knows that it's dangerous to just be walking the streets of Morganville at night, especially considering that she's alone and unprotected! And that's what is worrying me most, Claire does know better, so why hasn't she come home? Any minute now I am expecting to find her dead, with all the life sucked out of her by another vampire. I've been out for about fifteen minutes now, but there's no sign of her anywhere. I should have found her by now, shouldn't I? If she's still alive that is. Which is another reason why I don't think she is. God, Claire, where are you? I hate walking around Morganville at night. I know I'm a vampire and all, but there's just something creepy about it. It's too quiet. Just then, my cell goes off. I answer it on the first ring, not checking the caller ID, expecting it to be Claire asking me to pick her the hell up because it's cold, dark, and she's lost. But it's not.

'Hello, Michael,' Amelie says.

'I'm sorry, Amelie. But now isn't a very good time to be calling. I'm kinda busy' I say as politely as I can.

'You are out looking for Claire, yes?'

'Yes! Do you know where she is?' I ask, full of relief.

'To an extent, yes' Amelie says slowly.

'What do you mean by that?' I ask, worry taking its hold on me once more.

'Claire has gone. She called me earlier today, all but begging for a way out, and I gave it to her.'

'You-you let her leave town?' I all but shout down the phone.

'Yes I did. I owed it to her. She deserves a way out of this place. Don't you agree?' she says in an icy cold tone.

'Of course I do! But-'

'But what, Michael?' she asks, now in a stone cold tone.

'But, what about Shane? Or Eve? Or me? Do you have any idea what this will do to them?'

'It was because of the precious Shane she left, was it not?'

'Well… sort of, I guess'

'Well then. Anyway, I was just calling to let you know where she is and not to worry. She's safe' and she hangs up on me.

Shit! She's gone! Just like she said she would. She really left!

I start making my way home. How the hell am I gonna tell them? They're going to be so upset!

(Alice's POV)

I am in the middle of having a vision. I was just sitting on the sofa, watching Nessie playing with Bella on the floor when it suddenly came on. I don't know what it means though, which is kind of a new experience for me. I see a girl. She has long brown hair and brown eyes, she's wearing normal jeans and a dark red blouse. I don't see how this is important, I don't know her. All I can make out is she's sat in a car crying.

'Alice? What do you see?' Jasper asks. I know everyone's eyes' are on me but I can't see them. I only see the girl.

'I see a girl' I say. My voice sounds very far away. 'She has long brown hair and brown eyes and she's sat in a car crying'

'That's it?' I hear Bella ask. I nod, my eyes are coming back into focus now, the vision's fading. Edward shrugs. 'It was probably nothing' he says. 'It didn't look like much.'

Ugh. Him and his mindreading. It can get so annoying.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – (Claire's POV)

I walk up to my Uncle Charlie's front door and knock. I notice that there is a Silver Volvo parked in the drive, along with my uncle's Police cruiser. Oh God. I hope I'm not interrupting anything. The door opens to reveal Charlie stood there, holding the door open. His eyes go all wide when he recognises me and he gives me a big hug.

'Oh my God, Claire! It's been so long since I've seen you. It's great to see you!' he exclaims.

'It's great to see you to, Charlie' I smile.

'Bella! Bella, get over here! Look who's come to visit!' he turns back to me. 'What brings you to this part of the world then, Claire?' He asks.

'Oh, um, I know this is kind of short notice but… I kinda need a place to stay for a bit' I say a little awkwardly.

'Well you can stay here whenever. You know that. I'd be glad to have you. I've got Bella's old room up and running already' he informs.

'Thanks Charlie' I say, beaming. God, it's good to see him again.

Just then Bells comes around the door. She's pale, really pale. But then again, she always has been. And she doesn't look ill or anything like that. Just… different from when I last saw her.

'Oh my God! Claire!' she cries out, throwing her arms around me in a hug. She's freezing! I gasp. Oh my God! She can't be! No. I hug her back, she's rock solid. That's when I put two and two together.

Oh my God, I think in shock and horror. Bella's a vampire!

Charlie takes my suitcase up to my new room and Bells releases me, still holding onto one of my hands.

'C'mon, C. There're some people I want you to meet!' She sings, towing me into another room.

She looks back at me, still smiling. And that's when I notice something else that's different about her. Her eyes. They're not their usual chocolaty brown like mine. No. They're gold.

(Edward's POV)

I'm sat in the living room with Nessie, talking to Jake, but one of Claire's thoughts catches my attention.

Oh my God. Bella's a vampire!

I freeze.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – (Shane's POV)

I'm still trying to get through to Claire's cell when Michael bursts into the room.

'Where is she? Is she ok?' I ask quickly. I'm seriously starting to worry now. I need to know that she's ok.

'Did you find her?' Eve asks quietly, hanging up the phone for the twenty-eighth time.

(Michael's POV)

I don't know how to tell them that Claire's gone, never coming back. I just look miserably at Shane, then Eve, then Shane again.

'I think you'd better sit down' I sigh.

(Shane's POV)

As soon as he tells me to sit down, I know that Claire's dead. I picture her body, her small, fragile body, mangled and covered in blood, lying crumpled in the middle of the street.

'What is it Michael? Where is she?' Eve asks. Tears break free and run down her cheeks, ruining her makeup.

I feel as though my heart is breaking into a thousand tiny pieces, and failing miserably at trying to become whole again.

She's dead. I think to myself. She's dead, she's dead, she's dead.

Michael takes a deep breath and looks at Eve. 'She's… gone.'

'What do you mean by gone?' Eve asks.

I feel sorry for her, I really do. How can she not have figured it out yet? How could she not have guessed that Claire's dead? Never to return.

Michael looks away from her and at the floor. 'I mean… I mean she's left town. And she's not coming back.'

My heart restores its self when I hear that she's alive. But it breaks all over again about three seconds after. She left? She left me? I-I'm never going to see her again?

'No' I choke out. 'No, you're lying!'

Michael can't even meet my eyes, he just shakes his head whilst looking at the floor. 'Amelie called me when I was out to let me know that she's gone. I'm so sorry Shane' that last part comes out a whisper, but I still hear it. I run. Run right to my room and slam the door. I can't believe this, it's impossible!

Claire's gone? I'm never going to see her again?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – (Eve's POV)

Shane doesn't come out of his room again, he's been in there for three hours now. I have been crying nonstop for those three hours. I mean, how else am I supposed to react? My best friend has left town without me knowing.

She's gone. Claire's gone. I keep on thinking to myself, over and over again.

I never even got the chance to say goodbye. Maybe she thinks I don't care! I mean, me and Michael took off in the middle of the argument. Maybe she thinks that I'm fed up with her. What if that's why she left? No. That's not why she left. She left because of Shane!

This is all Shane's fault! I think harshly. He upset her and now she's runaway.

I start to cry again. Not the loud sobs like the normal Eve breakdowns. No. These are silent tears that constantly run down my cheeks… Not so normal. And I think Michael knows this.

'Eve' he says to me softly. 'Eve, it's getting late. Maybe you should go to bed?' I shake my head.

'I'm not tired' I reply. My voice is all crackly and breaks halfway through, but I don't care. All I care about is Claire, my Claire Bear.

Michael sighs and wipes away a tear that has just escaped.

'Eve' he says, more worry creeping into his voice. 'Eve, please! Talk to me!'

'About what?' I ask, staring blankly off into space.

'About how you're feeling. Tell me what you're feeling. This isn't normal!'

'She's gone' is all I say. To be honest I'm even starting to creep myself out now, my voice is completely blank. Not showing any emotion at all. I sound dead!

'Yes' is all Michal says.

'I just can't believe she's gone!'

'Oh, Eve,' he sighs, putting his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into him.

'She's left us' I say in that same dead robotic voice. And I cry, my not so normal cry, into Michael's shoulder. I know I should be feeling something right now but, honestly, I feel emotionless.

(Michael's POV)

I'm worried about Shane, I don't know what to say to him, I think he's in shock right now so I'm giving him some space. But I'm also worried about Eve. When I imagined her reaction to hearing the news I imagined her to be upset, yeah, I imagined that she would cry. But this just isn't normal, when Eve cries she lets out all her emotions. But right now she is just sat with her head resting on my shoulder, silently crying. She looks like a zombie, completely and utterly not her usual self. We've been sat like this for four hours now and her tears just keep on coming. I want to help her, I really do, but I don't know how. I don't know what to do!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – (Bella's POV)

Yay! My cousin/best friend has come to live with my dad. I'm so happy! I haven't seen her in ages. She wasn't able to make it to the wedding. Something about there not being any tickets left or something like that. I've missed her so much! I'm not really sure why she's living here though. I mean, last I heard she got an early transition to a college up in Texas somewhere. I haven't asked her why, but I know it must be something big. If I know anything about Claire at all it's that she loves to learn. She wouldn't just ditch college over nothing. I'm about to introduce her to Edward, Nessie, and Jake. I hope we act normal enough. I haven't really had much practice at being normal around humans that don't know about vampires… or at least don't know that something seriously weird is going on.

(Claire's POV)

Ok… so my cousin's a vampire. So what? I used to live with a damned vampire!

Yeah… but that was in Morganville! The little voice in my head reminds me. You're not in Morganville anymore!

Ok, just calm down Claire. You're just being stupid. There is no way in fuck that Bella is a vampire! You're just overreacting, that's all.

She leads me into the living room and there are three other people there. Two guys, One of them seriously pale, and a girl who looks about five? Six? The girl looks so much like Bella it's unbelievable. It's not been five years since I saw Bells last. And I would definitely remember if she had a kid!

This is impossible.

'Oh my God' I breath, turning a questioning gaze onto Bella. But she just smiles.

'Guys. This is my cousin Claire' Bella says. 'Claire, this is Edward, my husband' she points to the pale looking guy. 'This is Jake, a good friend of mine. And this is Nessie' she motions towards the girl, 'she's my daughter.'

'How the hell did this happen? It hasn't been that long since I saw you last has it?'

Nessie smiles at me and waves. I can't help but smile back, she's so cute! The other two just look… wary?

'Hey' I say, feeling slightly awkward.

Just then Charlie walks in. I let out a little sigh of relief and smile at him.

'Hey, Claire, you want anything to eat?' he asks.

'Oh, no I'm good thanks' I say politely.

'So,' Bella says, towing me towards a couch and sitting me down. She sits down next to me. 'How's life at college then, C?'

"As good as I could have been, I guess. What about you, you thinking of going to college?"

'Naw, I was, but I decided that it wasn't really my thing.'

'Well, that's too bad'

'Which college did you go to again?' Bella asks.

'Oh, um, TPU' I answer. She just looks at me.

'What does that stand for? Sorry, college girl, you're gonna have to dumb it down for me.'

I laugh. 'It stands for Texas Prairie University. But, it's a seriously crappy college, so most people call it TPEwwww!'

Bella laughs. 'I like it' she says.

'Your mum tells me you were having a bit of trouble with the girls' at the dorm so you went to off campus housing?' Charlie asks. He's my mums brother.

'Oh, yeah, I was. And so I did. That's where I've been living all this time' I say.

'What do you mean by trouble?' Jake asks me. Nessie crawls onto his lap and places her hand against his cheek.

'Oh, um, they pushed me down the stairs and stuff like that. I got a few badass black eyes too' I say, shrugging it off.

'Seriously?' Bella asks concerned.

'Yep'

'They could have killed you!' Charlie points out.

'To be honest, I don't think they'd really of cared if they had' I say, pulling a face. I remember back to the times when Monica would threaten to kill me, burn me, or whatever else she could think of. That's when I notice Edward watching me closely, when he notices me watching him he looks over at Bella.

'Well, I'd better go and unpack, I guess' I say, standing up. I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone, turning it on. 'Holy shit' I breathe. I have sixty-six missed calls, twenty-eight from Eve, six from Michael, and thirty-two from Shane.

'What?' Bella asks.

'Nothing' I mutter. I look over at Edward and smile, 'It was great to finally meet you.' I tell him.

He nods. 'You to' he says.

My cell goes off again. I check the caller ID. Shane. I sigh and cut him off.

'Who was that?' Bella asks.

'No one' I murmur. 'I'll see you guys later' I run up the stairs to my new room. In my new home.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – (Edward's POV)

I don't really know what to make of Bella's cousin. I know one thing though, she knows about vampires. Charlie's in the kitchen, making something for dinner. I can hear Claire upstairs, unpacking her things, I know she's blocking some thoughts… or trying to, but some are slipping through. She's not thinking about them long enough for me to be able to work them out though. I notice Bella watching me.

'What?' I ask.

'What the hell was all that about?' she asks me. And even though I can't hear her thoughts, I know exactly what she's talking about.

'She had sixty-six missed calls,' I reply.

'Sixty-six?' Jake asks in disbelief. I nod. 'Whoa, someone obviously misses her' he says.

'Three actually. Two guys, one girl.'

'Do you know why she's here?' Bella asks, still looking at me.

'No,' I say, frowning. 'She's not even letting herself think about why she left town.'

'Must be something pretty bad,' Jake says, looking up at the ceiling. 'Maybe Bella should go and see if she's ok?'

'No, she probably just needs a time out.' Bella sighs.

Nessie's still wondering why her auntie's upset. Man, that girl can read emotions as well as Jasper.

'I don't know Ness,' Jake answers her.

'What does she want to know?' Bella asks, looking at him.

'What's wrong with her aunt,' I tell her.

'Oh', Bella says, frowning slightly.

'Um, Bella?' I ask.

'Yeah?' she looks over at me.

'Do you know how you're cousin could've guessed that we were vampires within thirty seconds of seeing us?' I ask. Bella just stares at me, completely lost for words.

(Bella's POV)

What! My cousin knows about vampires? How?

'Whoa.' Jake says 'how the hell could she?'

I'm just sat on the couch, staring blankly at Edward. How could my cousin possibly know about vampires?

'Are you sure?' I ask him quietly. He nods.

'As soon as you hugged her, her first thought was 'Oh my God. Bella's a vampire.' And it didn't take her long to realise I was one too.'

'How?' Jake asks again.

'I don't know,' Edward mutters, he frowns. 'It was one of the other things that she wasn't letting herself think about.'

Just then, the doorbell goes. I go and answer it. There's no one there, just a letter under the welcome mat. I pick it up and look at the front. It's addressed to Claire.

That's weird. I think. How can someone know that Claire's living here so quickly?

'Claire Danvers! Get down here now! You've got mail!' I call up to her.

(Claire's POV)

'Claire Danvers! Get down here now! You've got mail!' I hear Bella calling up to me. I've already unpacked everything and I'm just sat on the windowsill, staring out into the trees, not thinking about anything. I hop off the windowsill and run for the door.

'I'm coming!' I call down to Bells. Who could it be from? Who could know I've moved in here so quickly?

I run down the stairs and nearly crash right into her, but she catches me and steadies me, making sure I'm stable before releasing her grip. She hands me a small white letter and I flip it over to look at the front. I don't even need to open it to know who it's from, I already recognise the handwriting… Amelie. I sigh, fold it up, and shove it in the back pockets of my jeans.

'You've not going to read it?' Bella asks curiously.

'Maybe later,' I say shrugging. I've just escaped the life of Morganville, I'm not quite ready to go back just yet.

'Claire-,' Bella says and then stops. I look up at her, she seems to be struggling for words.

'What's wrong Bells? Just spit it out.' I say smiling. I don't need to be thinking about Morganville right now. I'm back with my cousin, vampire or not, and that's all that matters.

(Bella's POV)

Claire follows me back into the living room and sits down. Everyone's staring at her in disbelief. Including me. Claire looks around at everyone's faces.

'What?' she asks slowly.

'Claire…' I try again. But I don't know what to say. How are you exactly meant to ask someone how they know that vampires exist.

'How do you know that vampires exist?' Edward asks. Oh, like that I guess…

Claire just stares at him.

(Claire's POV)

'How do you know that vampires exist?' Edward asks me. I just stare at him. How the fuck did they know that I knew about vampires?

'One of my vampire traits, I can read minds.' Edward says, smiling grimly at me.

He's joking right? He has to be joking.

'Oh no. I'm one hundred per cent serious,' he informs me.

Fuck!

'Yeah, that's usually everyone's first thought,' he sighs.

I just turn to look at Bella. She smiles and shrugs.

'I-I, um,' I stutter. I turn to look at Jake, who's watching me closely.

'Um, I…' I falter again. Oh what the hell am I supposed to say? Oh, yeah, well, you see… I used to live with a vamp. In fact, he just so happens to be one of my closest friends? No, thank you very much. It's only then that I remember my thoughts aren't my own anymore. Great.

'Where did you used to live?' Edward asks.

Hell! I think in annoyance. I ain't gonna tell you. He frowns at me and looks at Bella.

'Um, Claire, this is kinda really important. We need to know how you know.' Bella says, turning away from Edward to look into my eyes. I'm sat here, trying to think of every possible, non-Morganville related, thing I can to block Edward. I shake my head.

'How do you know? How are you guys even here?' I ask.

'What do you mean? This is our home.' Bella says confused.

'Yeah,' I say whilst mentally going through the two times table, one times two is two, two times two is four, three times two is six… 'I'm sure that's exactly how they'd see it' I say sarcastically.

'Who?' Bella asks at exactly the same time Jake says 'Oh my God! Is that a bite mark?'

My hand automatically goes to the side of my neck, eleven times two is twelve, twelve times two is fourteen… I'm slightly starting to panic now.

'It doesn't matter,' I mutter, my hand still at my neck.

'The hell it doesn't,' Bella says. 'Honey, what happened?'

My cell goes off… again. I look to see who's calling. Michael. I press the answer button.

'Hello..?'


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – (Michael's POV)

I'm still sat with Eve and she is still crying. I don't know what to do so I call Claire. Claire answers almost straight away.

'Hello..?' she asks.

'Claire?' I ask. Eve's head lift from my shoulder to stare at me, then the phone. She wipes her eyes.

'Yeah, it's me, Michael,' she sighs.

'Look, I need your help,' I say. 'I need you to talk to Eve.' And I hand Eve the phone. I stand up and make my way towards Shane's room. I hear Eve crying down the phone to Claire, her usual sobs now, not her silent ones.

(Eve's POV)

Michael hands me the phone.

'Claire?' I ask.

'Hey, Eve, how're you doing?' Claire asks softly. I break down.

(Claire's POV)

'Claire?' I hear Eve's broken voice ask. I automatically forget about my situation. Bella, Edward, Jake and Nessie all just… disappear. Eve does not sound right.

'Hey, Eve, how're you doing?' I ask softly. She starts to sob down the phone.

'C-Claire! P-Please come h-hom-me!' she cries.

'Don't cry honey!' I say, tears coming to my eyes. 'Eve, please don't!'

'B-but I-I miss y-you!' Eve says. God she's completely distraught!

'I miss you too!' I cry down the phone. The tears spill, I don't care that the others are here, I only care about Eve being upset.

God! I made her like this! I tell myself.

'Th-then c-come ba-back!' she begs.

'I-I can't honey. I'm sorry!' I tell her. My tears keep on falling, and I let them.

'B-but, I ne-never even g-got t-to say g-goodb-bye!' she sobs.

'I know, Eve, I'm so sorry!'

I just hear her crying now, she doesn't say anything else, just keeps on crying. I stand up and walk up to my room, completely forgetting about the little interrogation that has just happened.

I talk to Eve until we both stop crying… which is a while.

(Eve's POV)

I can't help but break down over the phone to Claire. She's my best friend and I'm never going to see her again. After begging my heart out for her to stay, and she still isn't coming home, I decide to find out as much as I can. She can run, but she can't hide.

'Claire, can I ask you something?' I ask hesitantly.

'Sure, honey, go ahead,' she's still using the soft motherly tone on me, I used to hate her for that, but now I just love her for it. I know that I'm older than her, but right now what I need is to hear that she still cares.

'W-Where are you?' I ask, my voice breaks at the beginning and I hate myself for it. I've already made her cry once over the phone to me, I don't want to set her off again. There's a long pause before she answers, so long that I start to doubt if she's ever going to answer.

'I'm staying with some family of mine, honey. Don't worry, I'm safe.'

I try and put some of the old Eve sarcasm back into my voice as I say, 'you do realise who you're talking to talking to right, CB? I'm Eve, The girl who would worry about you even if I knew for a fact that you were in Candyland, dancing with sugarplum fairies.' I hear her snort, and I can actually picture her rolling her eyes.

'Oh right, yeah, I forgot that part. Hi, Eve. I'm sorry, I thought I was talking to Monica. You know, the stone cold, heartless bitch?'

'Oh, no, sorry CB. It's just me,' I say going along with our little role-play because it's easier to do that than face the truth, Claire's gone. She really is never coming back. The last thing I said ever said to her face was, 'Right, me and Michael are headed out, let us know when you and Shane have decided to let this crap go.'

I really wish I hadn't thought that, I can feel the tears coming back again.

'Ok, CB. Just promise me this one last thing, never stop calling me.'

'Never ever,' she promises.

'Ok, well, I've got to go now. If you break your promise then I'll at least be keeping my end of the deal. Until next time!'

'Goodbye, Eve!'

I hang up, I can't let her hear me breakdown for a second time. I let the tears fall, but this time it feels better somehow, they're not tears of denial, they're tears of acceptance.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – (Shane's POV)

I'm lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling I've tried calling Claire again but she cut me off. I've been crying from the moment I slammed my bedroom door shut. I can't stop! There's only one way to calm me down when I'm like this. And it includes all three things:

1. Claire letting me cry in front of her and her not judging me for it,

2. Claire, telling me that everything's going to be ok,

3. Claire, stroking my hair and just generally being here.

All of which I don't have, because I don't have Claire. And I never will have Claire ever again.

God, why was I such an ass to her? She did nothing wrong. I was such an ass, and now she's gone! And I don't even know where she's gone!

But I bet I know someone who does. Amelie.

I'm going to find Amelie, I'm going to get her to tell me where Claire's gone, and I'm going to get Claire back. If it's the last thing I do!

There's a knock at my door.

'Leave me alone!' I call, my voice sounds as though it's been crying.

'Shane-' Michael calls through the door, but I cut him off.

'I said leave me alone, Michael!' I hear him sigh and walk back down the stairs. I grab my cell and flip through the photos, finding one of me and Claire from when we went clubbing in Dallas. Rolling onto my side, I decide that tonight's a good night to cry myself to sleep.

(Michael's POV)

After being completely rejected by Shane, I walk back downstairs to check on Eve. And I'm glad to see that she looks much better. She's still crying, yes, but it's more like her normal sobs, filled with emotion. I walk over and sit next to her. She leans into my chest and gives me a big hug.

'Shh' I whisper, resting my cheek on the top of her head. 'It's okay, Eve. Everything is going to be okay.'


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – (Bella's POV)

Me, Edward and Jake can all hear Claire in her room, thanks to our supernatural hearing. Nessie's keeping Charlie Company in the kitchen. I think Sue's thinking about stopping by later.

'Okay… what the hell was all that about?' Jake asks. I shrug and look over at Edward.

'Eve's trying to persuade her to go back to Morganville. Claire's trying to get her to calm down. But, that's all I can read.'

'Morganville?' I ask.

'Never heard of it' Jake chips in.

Edward shrugs before saying, 'It's up in Texas somewhere. It's the town that TPU's in.'

'What do we do?' Jake asks, looking from me to Edward and back again. 'She's obviously not going to be spilling anytime soon.'

I look up at the ceiling, to where I can hear Claire pacing around. 'I think it's time for Claire to meet the family' I say. Edward and Jacob both nod in agreement.

(Claire's POV)

I'm lying on my bed, not really sure whether or not I have the courage to go back downstairs, and there's a knock on my door.

'Come in!' I call. Bella opens the door, walks over to me, and grabs my arm.

'C'mon' she says, pulling me off the bed. 'There're a few more people I want you to meet.'

'Who?' I ask warily.

'You'll see' she chirps, towing me down the stairs. Edward, Jake, and Nessie are all waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

'Have you let them know?' Bella asks.

'Expecting us any minute' Edward replies. He's carrying Nessie and he walks out of the door. Jake quickly follows. And then Bella, still towing me along with her.

'Where are we going?' I ask.

'You'll see' Bella repeats, looking back at me and winking. She leads me over to the Silver Volvo and we all climb in. Me, Bella and Nessie are in the back, Jake in the passenger seat, and Edward driving. Throughout the whole drive, I keep on glancing at Bells, but she just smiles and keeps quiet.

(Alice's POV)

I've just started having another vision. It's about the same girl as last time, but this time she's in a dusty looking town. There are three other people with her. One girl, obviously a Goth. A guy with blonde hair, and a guy with brown hair. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, me and Bella are walking up to them…

Just then my phone goes off. I answer, not having to check the caller ID, being able to see the future has many perks.

'Hey, Alice. We're on our way back. We've, er, got a visitor. Her name's Claire. She's Bella's cousin, and she knows about vampires.'

I freeze. 'How?'

'I don't know. We're trying to get her to tell us.'

'But, why can't you just-' I start, but he cuts me off.

'Because she won't let me. Look, we're about to leave, see you in five.'

He hangs up on me. Okay, I'd better go and warn the others.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – (Claire's POV)

We're driving along the road when Edward suddenly pulled out into the woods. I can't say it didn't worry me, but when I saw that he had just pulled out into a sort of road in the woods I stop panicking. The next thing I know he's parking the Volvo in front of this massive, modern looking house.

'Wow!' I gasp.

Bella smiles at me and gets out, I quickly follow. Bella passes Nessie over to Jake, and I watch as his face lights up, before she comes and grabs my wrist. She pulls me towards the house.

'C'mon! It's just through here!' she promises. I sigh.

'Well, well, well. I never thought I'd see the day. Bella kidnapping me' I sigh dramatically. She rolls her eyes.

'I'm not kidnapping you, stupid!' she points out. 'Jeez, where did you learn to become little Miss Drama Queen of the century?'

'Long story,' I murmur.

'Well, you're very good at it!' Bella says.

'That's because I had a great teacher!' I laugh.

We all walk through the big front door and into a room with a piano, a staircase, and massive windows. And suddenly there's a girl there. She looks roughly the same age as me, she's quite small, with pixie cut hair and golden eyes. There's absolutely no doubt about it, she's a vampire. Her skin's as pale as Michael's and her eyes are the exact same as Bella's and Edwards. Her eyes widen when she sees me.

'Oh my God!' she breaths. I notice Edward stiffen out of the corner of my eye.

I wonder what the girl's thinking about.

'Claire… meet Alice, My sister in law!' Before I can even reply, Alice's hugging me. I stiffen automatically.

'Erm… Alice? You remember what I told you over the phone right? You know, about her…' Alice quickly lets go.

'I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking!' Alice apologises. She takes two or three big steps backwards and looks from me, to Bella, to Edward, to Jake, to Nessie, before returning her gaze back to me.

Jeez, how many of you are there? I think to Edward as I say,

'Don't worry about it, it's fine.' Alice smiles and motions for us to follow her as she walks into the next room, so we do.

We walk into a living room and there are five other vampires waiting to meet me.

Holy shit! I think, and I hear Edward chuckle.

'Claire, this is Esme and Carlisle.' Bella says, pointing to a young woman with strawberry blondish hair, and a guy with light blonde hair. All of the vampires have golden eyes.

'And this is Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie.' A guy with dirty blonde hair, a guy with short black hair and a big build, and a girl with long blonde hair.

'Hi,' I say, and wave awkwardly.

At least they don't look like they're about to bite my head off. I think as I look at all their smiling faces. I hear Edward chuckle again and send a glare his way. He just holds his hands up in surrender and tries to keep a straight face.

'Is it her?' Jasper asks. Alice nods.

'Definitely,' Alice replies nodding, a slight frown forms between her eyebrows.

'Wait, you've had another vision?' Bella asks, Alice nods.

Vision? What the hell?

'I'm not the only gifted vampire in the family,' Edward explains. 'Alice has the ability to see the future.

What! Oh my fucking God! No need to mention anything about abilities Amelie! I think in annoyance.

'Who's Amelie?' Edward asks innocently. I glare at him and he can't help but laugh.

'That's just mean,' I mutter.

'No it's not, it's just clever.' Bella corrects me. I roll my eyes.

'Whatever. Amelie's someone I used to know.'

'Vampire?' Bella and Edward both ask at the same time.

'Maybe…' I say as innocently as Edward.

They both pull a face.

'How can you be so… you about all this?' Bella asks.

'What the hell is that supposed to mean?' I laugh. She rolls her eyes.

'You're all like, oh yeah I'm in a room full of vampires so what?'

'It's called plenty of practise Bells,' I say, winking at her. I look at Edward, he's frowning at me.

'What?'

He sighs and turns to Bella. 'You two are definitely related!' I look at Bella.

'He can't read my mind,' she explains, seeing my puzzled expression.

'How come?'

'Because she's awesome!' Alice sings, she grabs mine and Bella's hands and forces us to sit down.

'Would you like anything to eat?' Esme asks me, smiling.

'Oh, um, no I'm alright thanks,' I reply politely. And just like that, I become one of the family.

Emmett and Jasper start back up with an earlier argument about who could win an arm wrestle between Emmet and Bells.

What the hell? I think.

'Don't ask,' Edward murmurs, he's sat on the other side of Bella. Jake, Rose, and Nessie go outside.

And Carlisle, Esme, and Alice all watch TV... but I get the feeling that they're not really watching it.

About five minutes later my cell goes off, it's a text this time. And it's from Shane. It says,

Plz plz plz come home I miz u so much… I luv ya Claire. Always hav xx

I delete it and look up. Edward's watching me, I turn to the TV and decide to watch it instead of think about the one thing I can't bear to.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 – (Shane's POV) – (The next day)

I get up the next morning and take a shower. The bathroom's all misty, Eve's up.

When I get downstairs, ten minutes later, Eve's in the kitchen eating breakfast.

'Hey,' I say. She doesn't reply.

Shit, don't say she's mad at me too! Well, why wouldn't she be? I'm the reason that she's never going to see Claire ever again.

'Eve,' I sigh. She doesn't even look at me. I sit down in front of her, forcing her to look at me.

'We're going to get her back. I promise. I'm going to get her back!'

'And how exactly do you plan on doing that mister smartass? We have no idea where the hell she even is! All she would tell me is that she's staying with some family.' That caught my complete attention.

'When the hell did you speak to her?' I ask.

'Last night on the phone.'

'WHAT!' I explode at her. 'SHE CALLED AND YOU DIDN'T LET ME SPEAK TO HER?'

'No!' she snaps at me.

'WHY THE HELL NOT?'

'Because I didn't want her to hang up! C'mon Shane, don't give me that look, we both know that's exactly what she'd of done!'

I sigh. 'Yeah, whatever, Eve. I've gotta go, got things to do!' I walk out of the room, and out of the house. I know exactly what I've got to do. Amelie, here I come!

(Claire's POV) – (Same day that she meets the Cullen's')

After about an hour or so of watching TV, I reach into my back pocket and pull out Amelie's letter.

'What's that?' Alice asks. Everyone turns to look at me.

'Um… a letter… from a friend, kind of,' I say. Edward watches me closely, and I know exactly what he's seeing, he's seeing Amelie. The Ice Queen of Morganville. I give him a look that clearly says, keep your mouth shut or there'll be consequences, and rip open the letter. It reads,

'Dear Miss Claire Danvers,

Although you have been allowed to leave Morganville it does not mean that you are free of it, if there is a problem and I need your help, I will expect you to come straight away. You will not be forced to stay but you shall not be allowed to stay away either. Until next time,

Amelie.'

I briefly close my eyes and sigh, 'So close.'

'What's up, honey?' Bella and Alice both ask at the same time.

'Oh… nothing,' I mumble. I fold the letter back up and put it in my back pocket. All the while thinking to myself… Will it never end?


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 – (Shane's POV) – (confronting Amelie)

'What do you mean you aren't gonna tell me?' I explode at her. Amelie just gives me the usual cold daggered glare and doesn't reply.

'You have to tell me where she's gone!'

'What makes you think I know?' She asks me.

'You monitor everyone that leaves this town, if there's one thing I know, it's that!'

'I am sorry Mr Collins, I cannot help you.'

'BULLSHIT!' I yell. God, why is she such a stupid bitch?

'If I am not mistaken, it was you that made her leave in the first place, was it not?' Her voice turns hard and flat. Completely unarguable.

'Yes, but-'

'But nothing. This whole mess is your fault, now you need to learn to live with it.'

'Please!' urgh, I hate that I have to turn to begging the bitch, but it's probably my last shot.

'No. that is final! This is the end of this conversation. Claire will be allowed to live her life away from this place, she deserves it, and you will NOT pull her back here! Only I can do that and I hope that I never have to.' That's all I need to hear.

'So, you DO know where she is!' I say. She glares at me as if to say, do I rip his head off or will it just make a mess?

'You want to know something?' I ask. 'You can throw me out now, hell, you can even threaten to kill me, but I'll never give up! I'll come here every day if I have to, I'm going to find out where she is!'

'Well then, I will just have to make sure you never find out!' I completely lose it. I lunge for her but am pulled up short by one of her dumbass bodyguards.

'Escort Mr Collins out, please,' is all Amelie says to him, and then she turns to me. 'And you Mr Collins, are very lucky you don't end up dead, I wouldn't try that again if I were you.'

And with that I get dragged outside and dumped on the pavement. I stand up and make my way home, looks like I'll have to think of another plan, and soon!

(Claire's POV)

I wake up the next morning to the smell of eggs on toast. That's funny, I never thought Charlie could cook. I get out of bed, take a shower, get changed, and make my way downstairs.

'Heya!' Bella chirps. She, Edward, Alice, Jake, and Nessie are all sat in the kitchen.

'Hey guys! What are you doing here so early?' I ask.

they all look at me as though I'm insane.

'C, it's two in the afternoon!' Bella informs me. What! No. It can't be!

'You're kidding,' I say flatly.

'Nope,' Alice says. She points to the clock above the door.

'Shit,' I breathe, but just shrug it off. 'Oh well, it beats getting up at six near enough every morning to get to class, I guess.'

'Hell, yeah,' Jake agrees.

'You hungry?' Bella asks. 'We've got eggs on toast, leftover style!'

'Mmm, my favourite,' I laugh, walking over to the side to get my breakfast/lunch. My phone goes off, again. I must've left it down here last night.

'What's the betting that's Shane?' Edward asks me. I smile slightly as I go to check it.

'Who's Shane?' Bella, Jake, and Alice all ask at the same time. I raise an eyebrow at Edward.

'What?' he asks. 'Just because I have the gift doesn't mean I like it.' I grin at him and look down at my phone. Shane. I hold it up and show him.

'Hey, maybe Alice's gift is rubbing off on me a little.'

'Or, maybe it's a little too obvious,' I say, rolling my eyes. I let the call run through as I sit down with my plate of food.

'So, who is he?' Alice asks again. My smile fades.

'Ex,' is all I say and shrug. 'It's a long story.'

I can feel all eyes on me still so I say, 'look guys, just forget about it yeah? The past is the past.'

They all nod and start up their own conversations, but every now and then, I feel them quickly glancing my way.

Okay. I think to myself. It's time to take my own advice, the past is the past. Now it's the time to live the rest of my life, Morganville free.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – (A year and a few months later) – (Claire's POV)

It's Nessie's birthday today! She's three! But she looks about seven now, thanks to her speed growing and everything. Alice has thrown a birthday party for her, so that is what I am up to right now. Watching as Ness opens her birthday presents and eating her birthday cake for her along with the wolves. I'm actually having a really great time, well apart from the fact that Alice won't stop bugging me about Jack Darter.

'Oh, c'mon, C!' She moans. 'Why don't you just say yes already?'

'Because I don't want to!' I reply.

'Why not?' Bella asks. Oh no! Not her too!

'Because I don't want to! Why can't that just be enough for you two?'

'Because it's not!' they both chirp at the same time.

Urgh, control your wife and sister! Please! I think at Edward. He just laughs and shakes his head.

'Sorry, kid. You're on your own for this one.'

'Aww, c'mon!' I moan.

'Nope, sorry!' I shake my head and turn back to the two twins of doom.

'Why isn't it?' I ask.

'Because it's not!' they both say together again.

'Why don't you want to?' Alice asks.

Because I DON'T!'

'Why don't you want to?'

'Why isn't it enough?'

'Because it's not!'

Urgh, this can go on forever. I hear Emmett laughing so I look over at him.

'What the hell's so funny?' I ask him. I'm lying on one of the couch, with my feet hanging off the end, and I'm taking up all the room.

'Well, if I were you, I would just go out with him. I mean, it'd get these two of your back.' I roll my eyes. Yeah, as if I'm gonna give in that easy.

'Yeah, but you might not be the only one thinking that,' Edward tells me. I glare at him before looking back at Al and Bells.

'No means no guys! Full stop. Curtains close. Blah, blah, blah,' I say.

They both share a look that automatically makes me nervous. Just then I get a call, I think Shane got the picture and gave up on me a long time ago, I press answer without bothering to check the caller ID. Big mistake!

'Hello, Claire,' comes a cool, calm voice from the other end of the phone. I gasp, all eyes look at me.

'A-Amelie!'

(Bella's POV)

Why she won't just go out with Jack I've no idea. He's an alright guy, nice, protective. I worry about Claire sometimes, the last person she went out with was that Shane, whom she never talks about.

I hear her gasp and my eyes dart her way, so does everyone else's.

'A-Amelie!' she stutters. Edward freezes. I've known from the start that he's been keeping Claire's secrets for her. And I know that this will probably just be another of them.

(Claire's POV)

'I-I, um… what- what can I do for you?' I finally manage to ask.

'Claire, when you left Morganville you were sent a letter, were you not?' I cringe. No. No, this CAN'T be happening.

'Um,' I swallow. 'Yeah, I got the letter.'

'Good, then we both know why it is that I am calling.'

'But, Amelie-'

'And I think you already know the consequences of you not coming, don't you?' I hear Edward growl, low in his throat. Everyone's eyes dart from him to me.

'What is it?' Carlisle asks, neither of us answer.

'You'll kill me,' I say, my voice full of dread.

'Yes. It is not that I wish for you to be dead, my dear. It is just the law, I hope you understand that.'

'Yeah, Amelie, I understand, when do you want me?' I ask, my voice completely flat.

'Three days' time.'

'THREE?' I screech. 'Please tell me you're joking!'

'No, Claire, I want you outside the Founders building on Tuesday at 3pm sharp. I don't care who you bring with you, as long as you're in Morganville, you will abide by our rules. You will be allowed to leave when you're done.'

'Wait, when I'm done with what?' I ask. Amelie pauses.

'I will explain everything when you arrive.' And with that she hangs up. I moan and put my head in my hands. Great, Morganville here I come!

'We,' Edward corrects.

I look up at him. 'What?' I ask him.

'We're not letting you go on your own, we're coming with you!'

'No,' I say, my voice as cool as Amelie's as I say, 'absolutely not.'

'Wait,' Bella says, holding up a hand, palm out. 'Hold up, what exactly is going on?'

'Claire's going back to Morganville for a while, and we're going with her,' Edward explains.

'No, no you're not!' I correct him. 'I am going back to Morganville, and I will send you all a postcard.'

'You're not going alone!' Edward tells me.

'Why the hell not?' I yell at him. 'I used to LIVE there!'

'Yeah, and how many times did you nearly get killed?' he shoots back. We're standing up now, facing each other. 'Jesus, Claire! You've already been bitten more than once!'

'So what? You're going to put your family in danger? Put Bells and Nessie in danger? You're staying here!'

'You're our family too,' Esme says quietly. I turn to look at her, then at the rest of the Cullen's'. Their faces are all the same, full of grim determination.

'Okay, but the wolves stay put,' I sigh.

'What? No way! Where Nessie goes, I go!' Jake protests. Damn their imprinting! I shake my head at him.

'I'm sorry, Jake. But I don't even think that Morganville knows werewolves or whatever exist! If you go with her, then you'll be putting Nessie in more danger than if you stay here.' He opened his mouth to carry out the argument further when Bella pipes in.

'I don't think he can, C. Jake has to come too.'

'No,' I say, this is where I draw the line. 'Either the wolves stay, or you all stay.'

Emmett places his hand on Jake's shoulder. 'We'll protect her, man. You know that.' Jake looks completely defeated as he sits down on the couch.

I lye back down on the couch too.

'Right,' Bella says, also taking a seat. 'It's time to cut the crap, C. You need to tell us exactly what we're getting ourselves into.' I sigh.

Morganville, here we come!


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 – (Claire's POV)

'Okay, I'll tell you everything. Any interruptions will be punishable by death,' I warn. They all nod, everyone's watching me, wolves included, I sigh.

'Okay, so as you all know a couple of years ago I moved to a university called TPU down in Texas. Home of TPU is a small town called Morganville, and… I guess that's where it all starts. I was bullied by a bitch and her groupies in the dorm, when I was pushed down the stairs it was the last straw, I decided to move to off-campus housing. At this point in time, I had no idea that vampires even existed. I saw an ad in the paper and moved in with three other roommates; Eve, Michael, and Shane. They took me under their wing, which caused them quite a bit of trouble seeing as I was an undersized, underage teenage girl and all. They explained about vampires and showed me how to survive in Morganville. We-um, we got into a bit of trouble when Shane decided to make a deal with this stupid vamp called Brandon, and we went in search of some special book that explained how to turn people into vampires to trade instead of Shane getting bitten. I met Amelie on the way because it was sort of a battle between her and Oliver to get this book, Oliver was trying to take over the town. We all got into some shit, met people on the way and came out on top basically. A while after that I took Amelie's protection to keep my friends and family safe, I had to do little errands for her. One of them being finding a cure for the vamps because they had some sort of disease. And that's where I met Myrnin, my crazy vampire boss…'

I tell them everything that I can, letting some things slip through unsaid but telling them the majority of it. Nobody interrupted, not once.

'So… any questions?' I ask, finishing up.

'Um… I think I have a few,' Alice says faintly.

'Same here,' Bella says.

'And here!' Carlisle says.

'Shoot,' I sigh.

'What do you mean by protection?' Carlisle asks.

'Um… basically it's a contract between a vampire and a human. The human is sort of safe to walk around at night, but not always and not many people do, but the human also becomes the vamps puppet. They have to do exactly as the vampire tells them to, no exceptions.'

'Okay… how come they burn in the sun and we don't?' Bella asks. I frown.

'Um… I'm actually not sure. The only thing I can come up with is that there are more than one type of vampire,' I say.

'What are taxes?' Alice asks.

'They're basically blood taxes. Humans have to go to the blood bank every month or so to donate a few pints of their blood for the vamps to be given.'

'That's disgusting!' Jake says. I shrug.

'That's Morganville,' I sigh.

'Hold up, hold up, hold up! I'm still stuck on this whole Ada, now Frank, thing,' Emmet says.

'Frank's a brain in a jar, he's hooked up to a machine that sort of runs Morganville…'

About twenty or so more questions later, I'm starting to get tired. I get a text from Amelie, and I'm surprised she actually knows how to, it reads,

Don't tell Eve, Shane, or Michael that you are coming!

'Well, that's weird…' I mutter.

'What?' Jazz asks.

'Oh, probably nothing,' I say, shrugging it off. It's not exactly like I want Shane to know anyway.

Bella drives me home, after everyone's goodbyes, and I am finally left alone to my own thoughts. And I'm annoyed to find that they go straight to Shane. Do I want to see him? Would it be better if I try to avoid him in Morganville? Will he be happy to see me?

'You ok?' Bella asks, pulling me back into the present.

'Yeah, I'm good,' I sigh.

'You know, just because you're going back, doesn't mean you have to see him,' she tells me.

'Was it that obvious?' I ask her.

'I've known you all my life, C. I know when there's something bothering you.'

'Yeah, but Bells, something tells me it's not going to be that easy.'

'What makes you say that?' she asks.

'It never is,' I sigh.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 – (Claire's POV) – (Tuesday morning)

So, here I am. It's about eleven in the morning and Edward is driving the Volvo into Morganville. I'm officially back. Me, Edward, Bella, Alice, and Nessie are all in the Volvo and Carlisle, Esme, Rose, Emmett, and Jazz are all in Alice's Porsche. We're in front and they are following closely behind.

'We're here,' Edward announces.

'You ok, C?' Alice asks me. I just shake my head, not quite able to speak.

'Which way from here?' Edward asks me.

'Take the next left to Founder's square; it's the biggest building you'll see.' I sigh.

'You know… it's only just gone eleven, we don't have to go straight to the Founder's building… do we?' Bella asks.

'No,' I agree. 'Plus, I'm thirsty. I know exactly where we can go to pass the time!'

'Where?' Edward asks.

'Common Grounds!'

'Okay, Common Grounds, here we come!' Bella announces.

(Shane's POV)

Me, Eve, and Mike are all sat in a room somewhere in the Founder's building. Amelie called us in about an hour ago, saying something about something being really important and that we have to stay here until THREE! I mean, why she couldn't have just called us in then I have no idea, I know things are bad, but still…

I still hate the bitch! I never could get out of her where Claire's gone. And I can't believe she just expects me to come with just a snap of her ice cold fingers. But, nonetheless, here I am! Sat in a red armchair, waiting for the bitch to turn up. I know that it's been over a year since she left… but I'm still in love with Claire Danvers. I don't think Eve or Mike have ever really forgiven me for letting her go, but at least they still talk to me. The few months after Claire left were horrible, neither of them would look at me and I KNOW that they had been thinking about throwing me out on my ass. But something stopped them. I can't say that it's gone back to being normal again, because God knows it hasn't, but it's getting there… Slowly.

(Claire's POV)

Alice phones Jazz to let them in on the plan as Edward makes his way towards the coffee shop. When he pulls up outside the all too familiar shop, I hop out of the car.

'So… this is the famous Common Grounds?' Emmett asks, getting out of the Porsche.

'Yep,' I say, grinning. I never realised how much I missed this place. I notice Edward looking at me oddly.

'What?' I ask, shrugging slightly.

'You must be insane,' he says, shaking his head.

'Yeah, well… I guess that's just what this place does to you.'

I take a deep breath and make my way into Common Grounds. As soon as I walk through the door, all of the Morganville residents fall silent. Okay… just a little bit awkward. Everyone is staring at me.

'Hmm… well, this is a first,' Alice murmurs.

I shrug and walk over to the counter. I order a white Mocha and the young lad behind the counter hurries to get me my drink. Great, I'm going to be the talk of the town. I turn around and lean against the counter, looking at Bells I say, 'Told you it wouldn't be easy.'

She nods, looking around at everyone.

'Are there vampires in here?' Jazz asks in a hushed tone. I nod.

'Yeah… this is kinda like a vamp hideout in the daytime,' I inform. The guy returns with my drink and I quickly fish out the right amount of cash to give him.

'So…' I ask him. 'Where's Oliver?' he shrugs.

'Um…' he smiles at me as if it's a great honour to get the chance to talk to me. 'Amelie called him in earlier. He's not been back since, that was about an hour or so ago.' I nod and take a deep breath.

'Great,' I say. 'Um, thanks. Seya around, I guess,' I say.

'Um, okay,' he nods as I turn around to find a table. Straight away I spot the one I want, smiling to myself, I take a seat.

'What are you smiling about, Ms Queen of Morganville?' Bells asks, as everyone sits down.

'Nothing,' I say. 'What the hell do you mean by Ms Queen of Morganville?'

'Oh c'mon! The way everyone's acting around you! It's like you're royalty or something!'

'Yeah, well…' I say, shrugging. I hate to admit it but Bells kind of has a point, not that I'd ever tell her that. I mean, I was never treated like this before… well not until I became one of Bishop's pawns, but that soon died down as well. To be honest, it's all starting to freak me out just a little.

'Hey, idiots! This is OUR table. Get lost!' Comes an evil voice from behind me. I smile and look behind me.

'Hello, Monica,' I say sweetly.

She nearly drops her drink, and I have to bite back my laughter.

'C-Claire!' she exclaims.

'What, you didn't think I'd leave without saying goodbye, did you?' I ask. She quickly recovers her Queen bee act.

'Well, well, well… if it isn't the little freak! And look, she must be suffering brain damage or something, because she seems to have forgotten that this I MY table.'

'Oh, no,' I say turning my back on her. 'I remember.'

She just stands there, staring at me in shock.

'Ha!' Jennifer quickly stands in. 'Look who's finally grown a pair!'

I turn to look at her, 'Obviously not you pair,' I say to her and Gina. 'Because you still seem to be following this waste of space around everywhere.' I indicate towards Monica. Monica screeches in fury and bursts out the door, heading for her car, Gina and Jen follow her.

'So…' Bella says. 'She's the one who pushed you down the stairs and shit?'

'Well, technically, Gina pushed me down the stairs but… Monica's the Queen bitch, yeah.'

And that was about it for our conversation. I showed them around Morganville, showed them TPU and took them shopping seeing as we didn't pack much.

'I feel different,' I say suddenly, everyone turns to look at me.

'That's because you are!' Bella says. 'You've changed so much since you first turned up at Charlie's a year ago!'

'Yeah,' Alice agrees. 'Plus… you're sense of style has improved tons! I mean, look at you!'

I look down at myself and take in my black Cami top and light blue shorts. I shrug.

'Yeah, I guess,' I say, smiling up at her. 'All thanks to you.'

She grins. 'Yeah, you're the brains, I'm the beauty, put us together and we're unstoppable!' I laugh.

'C'mon, we'd better get going! Amelie won't appreciate it if we're late, believe me!' I say, climbing into the car. And with that, we head off to the Founder's building.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 – (Shane's POV)

It is now half past two and we are STILL sat here doing nothing. Jeez! What the hell is going on? Just then the door opens and Amelie, Oliver, Richard, and Hannah walk into the room. Me, Michael, and Eve all stand at the same time.

'Thank you for waiting,' Amelie says.

'What's going on?' Michael asks.

'We have some visitors in town. They are here to help you sort out the mess we are in,' Amelie informs us.

'Are you sure they can be trusted?' Michael asks.

'One of them can definitely be trusted, and as for the others… we will have to learn to trust them.'

'Hang on, hang on, hang on,' Eve says, shaking her head. 'How many visitors ARE there exactly?'

'Last I heard there are ten of them,' Amelie replies. 'Don't worry, something tells me you'll get on like a house on fire.'

'Oh yeah, and what makes you think that?' I ask. She turns to look at me.

'Because one of them is Claire,' we all freeze. Claire… Claire is here?

(Claire's POV)

we're getting out of the car outside of the Founder's building when I notice something stuck on a lamppost nearby. That's weird. I think as I walk over to it.

'Hey, where are you going?' Bella calls after me.

'I'll be right back!' I reply. When I reach the flyer, I gasp. I rip the flyer down and run back to the Founder's building. I burst through the door and run to the assistant sat at the desk.

'Um… hi. I, um, I have an appointment with Amelie?' I ask.

'Claire!' Amelie says from behind me. I gasp and turn too face her. God I really do hate vampire stealth!

I walk right up to her and shove the flyer at her.

'What the hell is this?' I ask. She looks down at the flyer and sighs.

'It's what I need your help with,' she says, and leads us all into her office. The door closes behind us.

Oliver's already sat on a couch at the side of the room, he stands up when we enter, eyeing the Cullen's cautiously. He nods once at me.

'Claire.'

'Oliver,' I reply. Amelie turns to face me.

'We have recently been having a few… problems with some of the humans. They are rebelling against the vampires and they are gaining numbers rapidly.'

'Okay…' I say slowly. 'And where exactly do I come into all of this?' Amelie smiles grimly.

'There are only a few humans that the vampires can trust anymore, you being one of them. It is down to you and a few others to bring all of this horror to an end.' I look from Amelie to Oliver and back again.

'How come you can't stop it? Surely you have the power.'

'It is far too dangerous. We have already lost more vampires than I care to admit, as you can see from this flyer. We cannot lose anymore.'

'Wait. So this flyer isn't a fake? They really killed and tortured a vamp, took a picture of it and stuck it up around town?' I ask in shock. Amelie nods.

'Yes. And there is more than just one vampire. There are loads.' I swallow as a sudden idea hits me.

'Oh God, oh God… Michael, I mean, he's not- he's okay, right?' I ask in horror. No, not Michael.

'Michael is fine, Claire, I can assure you…' Amelie says quietly. I swallow again.

'Why do I feel as though there should be a but on the end of that?' I ask. Amelie lowers her gaze.

'They got him, Claire, they got Myrnin.' Oh my God! I sit down in the nearest chair I can find and hide my face in my hands. Not Myrnin!

'I'm sorry, Claire,' Amelie says. I look up.

'When?' I ask.

'A couple of weeks ago,' Amelie sighs.

Tears fill my eyes. God, If only I'd been here!

'Yes, yes, Myrnin's gone boohoo and all that,' Oliver says impatiently. God, some things just don't change do they? I glare at him. Amelie nods.

'Right,' she says, clearing her throat. 'I'll go and call for them.'

'Who?' I ask.

'The people you'll be working with.' Oliver replies, trying not to laugh. Uh-oh! This can't be good. I look over at Edward who is watching the door a little too closely.

'Um… do I know them?' I ask.

'God, I should hope so,' Oliver replies. Amelie leaves the room, I look at Edward who is watching me.

'What's going on?' I mouth to him. He looks sympathetic and just shakes his head, shrugging.

A few minutes pass before the door opens again, when it does I stand up quickly. I'm curious to see who these people are, and when I see, I gasp. Eve, Michael, and Shane are stood in the doorway!

Of course! Who else would it have been?


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21 – (Claire's POV)

For a while nobody says anything. Shane, Michael, and Eve are all staring at me like they can't believe I'm really here, and I'm staring right back. Then Amelie clears her throat.

'Um… I think that we should give these four some time to… er, catch up.' She turns towards the Cullen's, 'Would you like me to show you where you will be staying?' she asks them.

'Thank you, that would be very kind,' Carlisle nods, smiling but still looking tense. Oliver leaves the room and Amelie and the others quickly follow, Alice and Bells are the last to leave. They stand by the door, unsure on what to do. I smile and mouth, 'go.' They nod and walk out.

For a while after the door closes nobody speaks, then Eve squeals.

'Claire! Oh my God, I can't believe you're here!' and throws herself at me, I hug her back.

(Shane's POV)

Amelie opens the door and we all walk in, I can't wait to see Claire, but at the same time I am really nervous. Which just goes to show… I am still in love with her.

When she sees us, she looks like she's about to leg it. But we're nearest the door and she knows that she'll never make it. She quickly glances away, towards an unfamiliar group of vampires. I don't take my eyes off of Claire, she's all I can see. There's a deathly silence and everyone becomes very tense. After a while Amelie says something, but I'm not paying any attention to her, her and the others quickly escape, two female vamps being the last to leave. That just leaves the four of us alone. The silence stretches longer, and then Eve breaks it.

'Claire! Oh my God, I can't believe you're here!' she squeals. She crushes Claire in a huge hug. With Claire momentarily distracted by Eve, I quickly check her out. She looks great! With long black, shiny hair and her gorgeous brown eyes. Her dress style has also changed, instead of a pair of jeans and a blouse, she's wearing a black cami top and some light blue shorts. And it's all topped off with some black flats. She's absolutely beautiful... But she's not mine.

(Eve's POV)

I can't bear the awkward silence any longer. Claire's back! She's really here!

'Claire! Oh my God, I can't believe you're here!' I squeal, throwing myself at her and hugging her as tightly as I can. She's back!

'Eve!' she says, hugging me back just as tightly. 'It's so good to see you!'

We stand like that for a few more seconds until she pulls back and smiles at me. Out of the corner of my eye I see Shane watching Claire. Claire turns to Michael and gives him a hug as well. I start doing my usual… jumping up and down like a lunatic! When Claire pulls away from Michael she turns towards Shane, but she doesn't give him a hug. Instead she just gives him a shy smile before turning back to me.

'So… you guys going to fill me in on the goings on of Morganville whilst I wasn't here?'

Well… where to start?

(Claire's POV)

After I give Eve and Michael a hug I turn to Shane. For a few seconds everything goes back to being unbearably awkward, but then I smile at him and he smiles back, then I turn to Eve.

'So… you guys going to fill me in on the goings on of Morganville whilst I wasn't here?' I ask. Eve looks at Michael, who looks at Shane, who is still watching me. He hasn't taken his eyes off of me since he first saw me.

And then Eve clears her throat. 'It's quite a long story… perhaps we should sit down?'

(Edwards POV)

We follow Amelie down some long hallways and suddenly we're lead into some big rooms, four in total.  
>'This is where you shall be staying during your time in Morganville, I hope it's to your liking?'<br>Esme nods. 'It's beautiful, thank you.'  
>'My pleasure,' Amelie smiles.<br>'Um… Where will Claire be staying?' Bella asks.  
>'Oh, she is staying back at the Glass house with Shane, Eve and Michael,' Amelie replies.<br>Everyone returns to being tense, and Amelie notices.  
>'Do not worry, Claire will be perfectly safe. And it's only until you are all free to leave. After that you can all return back home. I can see from your eyes that you are not the same type of vampire as Morganville is used to. I presume you also have different diets..? Will there be anything you need me to get you?' Amelie asks.<br>'No thank you, we have come well prepared,' Carlisle replies. She nods.  
>'Yes, well, if there IS anything you need, do not be afraid to ask.' And with that she leaves.<br>'So…' Carlisle says once she has gone. 'This is Morganville.'


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22 – (Claire's POV) 

Once we are all sat down, me and Eve on one couch, and the boys' on the other, Eve turns to look at me.

'How much do you already know?' she asks me. And I tell her everything that I already know.

'Right,' Michael says. 'Well, basically, a couple of months or so after you left Morganville, the humans turned all rebellious. They got together in secret little groups in the day and began a sort of revolution. Amelie tried to get a group of humans to calm them down but the group just ended up joining, so she decided to send in some vamps.'

'But that didn't turn out too well either,' Shane continues. 'The five vamps that were sent got tortured and murdered. We've been sending a few vamps since then but they all come back the same… burnt, stabbed, and in a body bag.'

'So Amelie came to us,' Eve says. 'She said that me, Shane, Richard, Hannah, and obviously you are the only humans that can be trusted not to join the revolution. She wants us to start up a sort of revolution of our own… you know, make speeches, stick up our own flyers… just basically stuff like that.'

'But why?' I ask. 'What good will that do?'

'If we can get enough humans to cross back over to our side then we have a fair game,' Shane answers.

'Obviously she doesn't want it to end with a war,' Michael explains. 'But it seems like the only option we have. And we need more humans because, at the minute at least, they have much more people and power.'

'How long has this been going on for exactly?' I ask in shock.

'Just under a year, I guess,' Shane shrugs. I turn on Eve.

'How could you not have told me this? With all of our phone calls! This whole revolution, just slip your mind?'

'I didn't want you to worry! I mean, you sounded happy!' Eve exclaims. I roll my eyes at her.

'Wasn't it you that once said, and I quote, I'm 'the girl who would worry about you even if I knew for a fact that you were in Candyland, dancing with sugarplum fairies'?'

Eve try's her hardest to keep a straight face, but she can't, eventually she cracks a smile.

'Yeah, whatever,' she finally mutters.

'Anyway,' I say, changing the subject. 'Where exactly am I supposed to fit into this?'

'You,' Michael says, smiling, 'are supposed to be the main spokesperson.' I freeze.

'I'm sorry… WHAT?' I ask in disbelief. 'Why? I haven't been here for ages!'

'Yeah,' Shane says. 'But everyone listens to you, they always have Claire, you've just never noticed.'

'Oh my actual God! Guys, I can't do speeches!' I argue.

'Yes, yes you can CB!' Eve encourages. I sigh. Urgh!

'Fine… but you guys owe me, BIG!' they all nod and I roll my eyes. Great, not only am I back in Morganville, working alongside my ex-boyfriend, but there is also no way in hell of me keeping a low profile.

'So…' Eve says after a few minutes of silence. 'Who're the vamps you came with?'

'Um… my cousin, her daughter, her husband, and his family,' I say.

'Is that who you've been staying with?' Shane asks. I nod reluctantly.

'Wait,' Eve says, holding out a hand for emphasis. 'You managed to escape a town full of vamps, to go and live WITH some vamps?'

'Yep, but I didn't know they were vamps. I learnt that when I saw them.'

'Did you say daughter?' Michael asks.

'Oh, yeah, it's a long story. Anyway, they're different kind of vamps.'

'What do you mean by different?' Shane asks.

'Well… for starters, they drink animal blood.'

'Seriously?' Michael asks. I nod.

'And they don't burn in the sun, they sort of… sparkle. Um… they can't be killed with a wooden stake, silver doesn't affect them. Oh, and they have these… weird powers.'

'Weird how?' Eve asks. I shake my head.

'It's kinda hard to explain. You'll have to see for yourself. Come on, you guys should come and meet them properly.'

We all stand up and make our way down the corridor. We find our way towards the Cullen's rooms and knock at the door. Alice answers it.

'Hey, C!' she smiles. 'Come on in. Bells, Claire's here!'

The four of us walk into the room; Jazz and Em are watching TV.

'Where're the others?' I ask looking around.

'They're unpacking,' Alice replies. I shrug and turn to Eve, Shane, and Michael.

'Guys, this is Alice. Alice this is, Eve, Shane, and Michael. Oh, and that's Jasper and Emmett over there.' They all wave and say hi. Nessie suddenly appears out of nowhere and gives me a hug. I smile down at her and she places her hand on my cheek, using her powers to show me images of Jake. I hand her my phone and she runs back off.

'Let me guess… Jake?' Alice asks. I nod and she laughs.

'That was Nessie, my niece.'

'Wow, she's cute,' Eve says.

'Everyone thinks so,' Alice laughs. 'Come on in and meet the rest.'

And just like that, Eve, Shane, and Michael all become friends of the Cullen's as well. Isn't it weird how vampires can just make friends like that? I think the Glass house gang were a bit cautious at the start, but they're slowly becoming more comfortable around the Cullen's.

(Eve's POV)

I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting. When Claire said they were different, I didn't think they were going to be this different. Their eyes are all the same golden colour… except Nessie's, which are a chocolaty brown. They all have pale skin. I'm still curious though, about what these weird powers are. I'm sat on the couch with Shane and Michael, watching Claire laugh with her new family, and I can't help but feel sad, it used to be US Claire laughed with. I notice Edward watching me and I quickly look over at Michael. There's just something about the Cullen's… they just don't seem… normal.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23 – (Claire's POV)

So we're all still sat in the Cullen's temporary living room. It's actually not as awkward as I thought it would be, the Glass house gang don't seem too bothered, well if they are then they're trying not to show it. I find myself watching Shane, I can't help it. I look over at Bells and Edward and notice Edward watching me, his eyebrows raised slightly, I flip him off and he laughs.

'So…' I say, turning to Michael. 'Where exactly do we start?'

'Well… for tonight there isn't really much we can do, but tomorrow we're paying a visit to Richard and Hannah because they're also helping us out.'

'So, please tell me, if we have the mayor AND the chief of police helping us, why do I have to do all the speeches?'

'We've already been through this CB,' Eve sighs. 'People listen to you.'

'That's kind of true, C' Edward says, I turn to glare at him, when he sees my expression he grins.

'You,' I say, pointing at him, 'Can shut up.'

'I'm with Edward on this one… even though I have no idea what he's on about, I just like it when you're angry,' Emmett confesses. Alice laughs. I chuck a pillow at him but he just grins wider. I moan.

'Dipshit,' I mutter under my breath.

'Which one?' Jasper laughs.

'Both of them,' I reply.

Ugh, why do I even put up with these people?

'Because we're your family and also because you love us,' Edward grins.

'Stay out of my mind, mind reader,' I mutter. That gets us some strange gazes off of Eve, Shane, and Michael. I ignore them and turn to Bella.

'You know, Bells, I'm blaming you for this,' I point at Edward and Emmett.

'How the hell is that my fault?' Bella asks.

'Because you married him,' I point to Edward, 'which makes us family,' I point to Emmett. 'Technically,' I add on the end. Bella rolls her eyes. Just then, Nessie runs back in and hands me the phone.

'Hey, sweetie. How's Jake?'

'Okay,' Nessie replies. She puts her hands on her hips and fake scowls at my legs, seeing as I'm taking up a whole couch with them.

'Want me to sit up?' I ask smiling at her expression. She rolls her eyes and nods. And then I move, looking back at Bella and Edward.

'Yep. She is definitely your daughter.' They both snort. I see Edward glancing at Eve every so often and I start to wonder what she's thinking. I look over at her, is it me or does she look… sad?

'Right, I'm beat,' I sigh. The Cullen's informed me a while ago about what Amelie had told them about me staying at the Glass House. I have no major objections, but I know it's going to be awkward.

'Same here,' Eve says, and just to prove it, she yawns. The four of us stand up, say our goodbyes, and make our way towards the door. Shane and Eve pick up with their usual banter about nothing in particular. All I pick up is Eve going, 'Move, Numbskull.' And Shane replying with, 'that's move almighty Numbskull to you, Gothica.' I roll my eyes and sigh for the old times, Michael sees my reaction and smiles, and I smile back. Okay… so maybe paying a visit to Morganville won't be so bad after all.

(Shane's POV)

No matter how hard I try, I can't not look at her, she's gorgeous. She's changed so much, I can see that, but at the same time… She's still my Claire. The girl I fell in love with. Changed for the better and not the worse. But then again, maybe it COULD be classed as for the worse… because it's so much harder not to just grab her and kiss her, like I would have done once upon a time. I miss her so much but I don't even know if she still cares, I haven't seen her in so long. At least she's coming to stay with us, it will give me another chance to get close to her again. The only question is… will she be able to leave the new life she's made for herself, and come back to her old one?

(Michael's POV)

Did I hear right? Did Claire just call Edward a mind reader? But that's impossible isn't it? I look over at Edward and I see him shake his head ever so slightly. You have GOT to be kidding me! Edward smiles at that before returning to annoying the shit out of Claire. The only question I have right now is… Do the others have any special powers, and if they do, what are they?

(Eve's POV)

So we've just got back home, Claire's taking her things up to her room and unpacking and Michael and me are just about to make dinner. It all feels so normal but at the same time so completely not normal. It's freaky. But at least I get to have my CB back for a little while. The main question running through my head right now is… How long will I actually get to have my CB back for?

(Claire's POV)

I'm upstairs right now, back in my old room, unpacking my things. I'm feeling kind of happy about staying back at the Glass house. It's sort of like old times but sort of not as well. It's… weird. I have so many questions running through my head right now, but the main one is… What will happen tomorrow?


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24 – (Claire's POV)

Ugh. It's about six in the morning and I can't get back to sleep. The one time I want my brain to shut off… Maybe a glass of water will help? When I climb out of bed I look at myself in the mirror. I decided to sleep in some old shorts that are now too short to wear in public, and an oversized shirt. No one will be up at this time though so there isn't much point in getting changed I guess. I grab a hair bobble and tie my hair into a messy pony tail and open the door. I quickly double check that the coast's clear before making my way down the stairs and into the kitchen. I fill a glass and take a drink before I place the glass in the sink. There's a cough from behind me and I jump violently and spin around to face the doorway. I can feel my cheeks flare as I see Shane standing there, luckily I haven't bothered turning any lights on so he can't see. Well… this isn't awkward.

'Sorry, I didn't wake you did I?' I ask.

'Oh, no. I, um, couldn't sleep,' he replies, and I notice his eyes drift over my outfit.

'Oh, okay… I should go,' I say quickly. I walk past him, waiting for him to let me past but he doesn't move. Uh-oh…

'Claire…' he trails off and I look up at him.

'Yes, Shane…?' I sigh.

'Um… never mind. I'll see you in the morning, I guess.'

'Correction, you'll see me later on today,' I grin at him and walk back up the stairs and back to my room.

(Shane's POV)

Just as I walk into the kitchen I stop dead. Claire's stood by the sink, facing away from me. All she has on is an oversized shirt and some seriously short shorts. Oh my God… this can't end well. I cough to let her know I'm there and I watch as she jumps a mile and spins to face me. I swear he cheeks turn a darker shade of colour but I can't be completely sure in this lighting. I can almost hear her heart beating in her chest.

'Sorry,' she says, 'I didn't wake you did I?'

'Oh, no,' I stutter. 'I, um, couldn't sleep.' I can't help but let my eyes run over her body… it's been so long since I've seen her like this.

'Oh, okay… I should go,' she says too quickly. Tell her, tell her you idiot! Just tell her how you feel.

'Claire…' I start, she stops in front of me and stares at me.

'Yes, Shane…?' she sighs, and I chicken out.

'Um… never mind. I'll see you in the morning, I guess.'

'Correction, you'll see me later on today,' she smiles up at me and my heart nearly explodes. Claire I still love you, don't leave me again! I think to her, and just as I work up the courage to actually tell her, she's walking up the stairs and out of sight. Damn it!

(Later that morning) – (Claire's POV)

I walk downstairs in some dark blue, tight, jeans and a tight-fitting, white t-shit with pink and purple writing on the front saying,

'Break The Rules.'

My hair's up in a, less messy, ponytail because I can't be bothered to do much with it today. We're going to see Hannah and Richard today, but first, we're meeting up with the Cullen's.

'Hey, CB,' Eve sings as I enter the kitchen, both Michael and Shane look up at me.

'Morning,' I sigh.

'Coffee?' Eve asks and I nod.

'I'd love some.'

'So… what've you been up to lately, CB, Anything interesting?'

'Not really.' I shrug.

'What time are we meeting up with the Cullen's?' Michael asks.

'Um… dunno. Whenever you guys are ready, I guess. The Cullen's don't sleep so they'll be fine with us dropping by whenever.'

'Wait,' Shane says slowly. 'When you say they don't sleep…'

'I mean they don't need it. Come to think of it… I don't think they even CAN sleep.'

'Seriously?' Eve asks. I nod.

'Well, then let's go!' Eve says standing up and dragging the guys along with her. I roll my eyes anf laugh as they both start complaining on cue. I stand up and follow them out to Eve's hearse and climb in the back with Michael. Shane, being Shane, has already called shotgun.

When we get to the Cullen's Rose lets us in, and suddenly Bells and Al are there, Alice chucks me her phone. What the hell?

'Jack,' Bells whispers to me.

'Oh my God,' I moan and Edward and Emmett laugh.

I hate you! I think at Edward but he just laughs.

'No you don't, you still love Me.'

'Yeah, right,' I mutter, which obviously just makes the four of them laugh harder.

'Hello?' I say, putting the phone to my ear.

'Hey, Claire, Have you moved or something? I stopped by Charlie's earlier and he told me that you had left,' Jack says.

'Oh, um… no. I'm on a, er… sort of holiday type thing.'

'Oh, ok… how long are you gone for?'

'Um… I'm not actually sure… not too long I hope.'

'Ok… sounds like an… interesting holiday.'

'Oh, yeah, it is!' I smile.

'Right, well… I gotta go. I'll see you when you get back I guess.'

'Yeah, yeah. Bye!'

'Bye.'

And the phone goes dead. I chuck it back to Alice, wait no, that's not right… I chuck it AT Alice.

'You're mean,' I mutter.

'I know I am… but what can you do…? That's a rhetorical question Emmett,' she adds just as he opens his mouth with a reply.

'Right, so… are we going to save this town or what?' Bells asks.

'Yeah, let's go,' Eve smiles, and I can't help but notice her, Michael, and Shane throwing me some strange glances once in a while. Okay… first step to saving the town, here I come!


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25 – (Michael's POV)

It's about ten thirty in the morning and me, Claire, Shane, and Eve are all in one car, with the Cullen's split into two cars and following close behind us. We're on our way to Richard and Hannah's house; they now live together because they started dating a few years back. I don't know if Claire knows quite how popular she has become. Some people overheard Oliver and Eve talking about Claire being the only human who can save the town ad it spread like wildfire… and I think Claire's about to find that out.

'So…' Eve says, filling the silence, 'who were you on the phone to earlier?'

'Um… Jack,' Claire says slowly.

'You going out with him?' Shane asks.

'Um… no, not that it's any of your business… any of you.'

Shane, who's just relaxed back into his seat, goes rigid again.

'I know it's not, CB, not anymore. I shouldn't have asked.'

The rest of the car journey's in complete silence, with nothing but the car engine to break it.

Shane stays rigid, Eve looks a little shocked, I don't really know what to make of the whole situation, and Claire looks pissed, and maybe a little… scared?

(Claire's POV)

Okay… so I know it was a little unfair, but what else was I supposed to do? I can't get close to them again, not even Eve, because if I do… I know I won't be able to leave them again. And I definitely CAN'T fall for Shane again… I need to keep my distance. And… I'm scared, because I don't think I can. No. I HAVE to keep my distance. I've made a new life for myself in Forks… a safer life… a better life.

But deep down, Claire knows that that last part isn't exactly true.

(Eve's POV)

There's something wrong with Claire, she looks… confused. I'm going to find out what's wrong, but not right now, now I have to think about how a handful of humans can save this town. And I'm not sure if I know the answer to that… I'm great at many things, but this just seems a little out of my control. I hope Amelie's right; I hope Claire knows what to do, because if she doesn't… then we're screwed.

(Bella's POV)

Claire's gotten herself into some real deep shit, even if she hasn't realised it yet. It's obvious that she's still in love with Shane, and it's obvious that Shane's still in love with her. So she has two choices really, choice one: Come home with us and pretend to love Jack, and choice two: Stay here in this evil town and have the happily ever after with Shane that she wants so much. Why do I get the feeling that the end choice will be the more dangerous option?

(Alice's POV)

I'm having another vision. I see Claire; she's alone, only… she's not really alone… There's something there, something I can't see. Claire's crying, silent tears of hurt, loss, and realisation are running down her cheeks.

'No, not him, anyone but him,' she gasps.

I don't know what else is there with her; whatever it is it's not quite human… but it's not quite not either. I can sense it, but can't actually see it. It's so annoying.

Claire's stood outside on a field of grass; I think I saw it earlier on our way to Common grounds.

There's a noise from behind her… behind me. But my vision won't sway an inch from Claire so, when she turns around, I can't turn with her.

'Oh my God, Shane!' Claire cries out. The sense of the not quite human is much stronger now, but I still can't see who it is. My only guess is…

Shane, no!' Claire screams. And the vision fades. I'm back in the car with Bells, Edward, Jasper, and Nessie. Nessie's sat on my lap, Jazz is in the back with me, Bells is driving, and Edward is in the passenger seat. Edward is watching me, his face full of the same confusion that I'm feeling. I open my mouth to say something but he shakes his head, my mouth snaps shut and we spend the rest of the ride in silence. If there's one thing I'm sure of then it's this… There's something more going on in Morganville than meets the eye.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26 – (Claire's POV)

I'm getting out the car, we've just pulled up in front of Richard's house, it's exactly as I remember it! The Cullen's have gotten out as well and I'm currently stood with Alice and Bells. Esme has Nessie and Michael's just knocked on the door. The door opens to reveal Hannah, dressed in her usual attire and smiling. After quickly greeting Michael, she looks up at me and her smile grows.  
>'Claire!' She exclaims. I walk over to her and give her a quick hug.<br>'Hey, Hannah!'  
>'Damn, girl, it's been too long!'<br>'I agree with you there.'  
>She invites us all in and we follow her into the living room where Richard is waiting. We have pretty much the same greeting as me and Hannah and before long we're introducing the new recruits to my family. It doesn't take long for us all to get settled though, and as soon as we do, we get straight down to business.<br>'So,' Richard says, 'any ideas on what to do?'  
>'Yeah,' Eve says, 'save the town.' Richard rolls his eyes.<br>'Okay,' Hanna says. 'Any advances on 'saving the town'?'  
>'Well… we need to get out there,' Claire says. 'You know, like let people know we mean business.'<br>Okay,' Shane says, nodding. 'But how exactly do we do that?'  
>Alice speaks up. 'How about a concert or something?'<br>'What do you mean?' Alice shrugs.  
>'Well, can any of you sing? If we can encourage people to come to a concert then we can fit a speech in or something, it will make people listen.'<br>'That could work,' Michael says. I look over at Bells and she's watching me. Keep it shut Bells! I think to her. Edward looks from me to Bells and back again.  
>'But can any of you sing or anything?' Edward asks.<br>'Michael!' I say, Shane and Eve say it and Michael says 'Me' at the exact same time as me. We look at each other and start laughing. Yep, just like old times. That's when I look over at Shane, well… almost like old times.

(Shane's POV)

Claire's grown since she lived at the glass house, whether that's because she's ACTUALLY grown or she's just become more powerful over our time apart I'm not sure. But there's one thing that I know me, Mike and Eve can all agree on, and that's that she's grown more gorgeous and definitely more in control of her own life. She's definitely NOT the same Claire I used to know…  
>She keeps on sending glances my way, whether she realises it or not, she is. It's so hard to concentrate with her around!<br>'Hey, what about you C?' Bella says. We all look at Claire.  
>'What do you mean?' Claire asks.<br>'You've got a great voice, why don't you AND Michael do a concert? You never know, it might bring in more people.'  
>'Er…'<br>'You can sing?' I ask. Claire looks at me and quickly away.  
>'Well… yeah, I can.'<br>'Would you sing with Mike?' Eve asks excitedly.  
>'It would help. I mean, can you imagine what will happen when everyone hears that Claire is not only back in town but is also performing?' Michael says.<br>'Um… Fine,' Claire sighs.  
>'Great! Now we're getting somewhere,' Richard says happily.<br>'Yeah…' Claire says.

(Claire's POV)

Oh great. Thanks a lot Bells! Out of the corner of my eye I can see Edward's mouth twitch. Oh, shut the hell up! I think at him and he rolls his eyes. Looks like I'm going to have to sing in front of the WHOLE TOWN! That's always been Michael's thing. Not mine! I haven't sung in YEARS! What am I going to do? I know I'm going to fail, fail miserably! No. No, this is the old Claire talking, not me. I've fought SO hard to become who I am today. And I'm not about to return to that pathetic excuse of a girl I was when I first came to Morganville, I've worked too hard. I'm not about to throw it all away! I'm going to help save the town, whether I fail or not it'll still bring people, and that's what we need, people to be on our side. To help us win the war between the humans and he vampires!

(Edward's POV)

I don't know if any of the others can see how much this is tearing Claire apart. Living her old life but trying desperately to keep hold of the new life she's made for herself. She's a good actor, I'll give her that, but she can't fool me. I mean, obviously the whole mindreading gift doesn't work in her favour but… there it is. The sooner she leaves this town the easier her life will be, that's for sure.

(Eve's POV)

I never knew that CB could sing. I can't believe I never knew that! I beet she's great. She's one of those girls that are full of hidden talents. She looks scared though, like, really really scared. But I know she has no reason to be… Michael will help her. Anyway, now onto an even MORE important subject than Claire's voice, and that's Shane and Claire! You can tell that they are so totally still in love with each other. And you can also tell that Shane's scared to tell Claire how he feels and that she's trying to ignore the way she feels. It's all too complicated for me… all I know is that they just need to grow a pair and get back together again. Then my family will be complete. I don't want Claire to go back with the Cullen's, and the only way I can think of getting her to stay is if she gets back with Shane. I'm going to talk to Shane, soon, because cupid's my middle name!


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27 - (Claire's POV)

So… we're three hours into planning for my 'big comeback' as the others like to call it. Urgh. We don't know what I'm singing yet, though… but we know that it's going to be performed at the main hall in the founder's building on June 5th. It's May 5th now, so we have about a month to get ready.

'Who's going to make the flyers?' Eve asks.

'Alice!' Me and the other Cullen's announce at the same time. Alice breaks out in a big smile and squeals.

'Yeah…' Rose says, 'it's about the only thing she's good for.'

'Hey!' Alice complains. I roll my eyes. Morons'. I look over at Shane and, surprise surprise, he's watching me. I smile at him slightly, he smiles back. Uh-oh… Something tells me that things are going to get even MORE complicated.

'So…' Shane says. 'We've got the date and the place… but – what time? What songs are we doing? Who's doing what? We still have so much to figure out.'

Hannah looks over at me.

'What do you think?' she asks. I start.

'Me?' I ask. She nods.

'Yeah, Claire, you're the head of this thing.'

Great.

'Uh…' I look over at Bells and she shrugs. 'Well, it should probably be evening sort of time… maybe about six or seven?' The others all nod, taking in every word. 'And, maybe it should be more than just one concert… at more than just one place.'

"What do you mean?" Rose asks.

'That's actually not a half bad idea,' Edward says, seeing in my mind exactly where I'm coming from.

'Maybe we could do a sort of tour… all around Morganville. That way, if anyone can't make it on the 5th of June, then there could be, I don't know… say three other dates to choose from? That way we can get through to more people, go more to them than having the come to us.'

'Good thinking,' Hannah nods.

'Have we got enough time though? To get it all sorted I mean, we only have a month,' Eve reminds me.

'So then we hold back the first performance for another couple of weeks. With all of us organising it, we should get it done by the end of June.'

'Okay… So, where do we start?' Richard asks. And for that… none of us have an answer.

Half an hour later and we still haven't come up with an actual plan. Well… this is going great! I sigh.

'Anyone want a drink or anything?' I ask, standing up and heading for the kitchen.

'No thanks,' the others reply. My head's killing me. How am I supposed to be leading this thing if I can't even come up with a good plan? Forgetting completely about the glass of water that I had originally come in for, I lean forward against the kitchen counter and place my head in my hands. What a mess!

'Hey,' Shane says from the doorway. I jump slightly and straighten up. How long have I been stood here?

'What are you doing in here?' I ask. He shrugs.

'The mind reader looked worried about you, and he probably knows that something's wrong more than any of us.'

'I'm fine,' I say, a little too quickly. It's obvious that he doesn't believe it any more than Edward would.

'Really? Because I don't believe you… not for one second.'

'Well that's not my problem,' I say, looking out of the window. I can't look at him, not now, not with everyone counting on us to make things right again in Morganville.

'Claire, look at me,' he sighs.

'No,' I reply, my voice unsteady as I shake my head.

'Why not?'

Because if I look at you then I'll have to deal with the fact that I'm still in love with you. And THEN I'll have to decide which life I truly want, my new or my old. And I can't deal with all that on top of everything else. Not now.

That's what I want to say to him, right here and now, but I know that there are too many ears in this house that are able to overhear me.

'Let's just… get back to the others,' I sigh, walking past him and out back into the living room.

I can feel Edwards gaze on me like two burning holes as I sit back down, and I don't need it in writing that he'd heard every single one of my thoughts back out in the kitchen.

Just drop it! I think to him. No one's seemed to make any advancement on any of the details and I sigh. Taking a deep breath, I stand up.

'Right guys,' I say, pacing around the room, 'listen up! Alice, I'll come up with some kind of arrangements for the actual tour and I'll fill you in on it as soon as I can. Until then you can come up with a few rough designs for the posters and other various advertisements. Michael, you need to go and inform Amelie of our plan so far… see if she's cool with it. Richard and Hannah, you go with him… if these people are really as rebellious as Amelie made them out to be then there's no way that I'm letting him go alone.' I've got everyone's complete attention now; I can already feel the plan coming together inside my head. 'Esme, Eve, Rose and Bells I need you to do decorations… and catering, we'll need food of some sorts there. The rest of you? We'll need equipment… microphones, speakers… the works.'

'What about you?' Eve asks.

'Me and Nessie are going to try and fit together a song list,' I reply.

Things happen quickly after that… the guys leave to get the equipment. So do Mike, Richard and Hannah to talk to Amelie. Alice, Bella, Rose, Esme and Eve all sit down and start discussing different themes for the gigs and me and Nessie go on Hannah's laptop to find some good songs. It looks like I've gone back to being leader again… the old Claire's resurfacing…


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

(Claire's POV) - (Later that night)

I roll over in bed, it's about midnight, and sigh. My brain just wont shut off!

Quickly after Michael returned everything went back to being hell. Me and Nessie have found a couple of good songs that we could try out but it's not enough. Alice has done the best that she can but… well, without any proper details she can only design where the information is going and that's it. And as for the theme… no one knows what a good theme would be that could catch people's attention… no one knows. And as for the food… well, I'm not even going to go there, because again no one knows what sorts of food we should serve. So basically all we have accomplished since I designated everyone their jobs is just that, designated jobs. Plus a couple of songs. It's not enough.

Sighing to myself, I climb out of bed, run my hands quickly through my hair, and make my way into the kitchen. Eve's laptop is still on the kitchen table where we left it earlier after returning back to the Glass House. I turn it on.

Might as well put my brain to use. I tell myself.

Once the laptop's fully rebooted I click straight onto YouTube. Turning the volume down to make sure I don't wake the others, I turn on the song that I think I should open up with… 'Underground by Avril Lavigne.'

Next I grab a pen and notepad, and start to write down the information for Alice.

I decide that it's probably a good idea to start the first concert at seven, it should go on for a couple of hours so we have enough time to get the message through to everyone, and it should end at nine.

But is even that long enough? I ask myself. Should it end at ten just to be on the safe side? Will mine and Michaels voices be able to survive for three hours? What if they can't? What if people start to get bored by the end and switch off? What if my voice isn't what it used to be? What if… what if this whole thing does more worse than good?

I whack my head down on the table. Hard. 'Get a grip, Danvers!' I mutter to myself.

'Can't sleep either?' A voice asks from behind me. I spin around to face the doorway… Shane. He's managed to creep up on me again. How does he do that?

'Oh, um… no, not really. My brain wont shut off.' I shrug and turn back to face the notepad and look at all my ideas, my questions still haunting me.

'Want any help?' he offers, walking over and sitting opposite from me across the table.

'I would love some!' I admit. He smiles. Once again I am aware that he has caught me in shorts and an oversized T-shirt… my cheeks heat. When will I ever learn?

'What've you got so far?' I slide the notepad across the table to face him and he reads through it.

'This is a good start,' he agrees. 'What have we got to do next?'

'Well... I was thinking that we should organise the concerts one at a time… so that we don't get to the last bit and realise some mistake we've made and have to start again from scratch, what do you think?'

'I think that's reasonable enough. So we've got to plan the first one?' I nod. 'Okay.'

'You take food and I'll take song choices?' I suggest.

'Fine by me.'

And with that we set to work…

'Sausage rolls, quiches, cakes and salad… along with pizza?' Shane suggests.

'Sure,' I agree. 'There's a big enough selection there.'

'And if there isn't then we can add more the next time around,' Shane decides. 'What songs have you got?'

'Underground by Avril Lavigne, Runaway by Pink, and Lost in Paradise by evanescence?'

'Brilliant. I think Mikey's going to do some original stuff of his so we've got his songs covered.'

'Okay.' I sigh and rub my temples.

'You okay?' Shane asks me.

'Yeah, I just… I just have a headache, that's all,' I sigh.

'Do you want me to get you some water or something?'

'Umm... no thanks, I'm all right.'

'You sure?'

'Mm-hmm…' I murmur.

'Maybe you should go to bed?'

'No, I have to get this sorted first.'

Silence falls between us. I sigh and open my eyes, focusing back on the laptop screen.

'Claire?'

'Yes?'

I look up at him… and immediately wish I hadn't, because as soon as I do I know exactly what he's about to say. I can read it so clearly in his eyes…

'Do you think that maybe, if we manage to get through this mess and save Morganville again, that maybe-'

'Stop!' I cut him off. 'I can't do this right now, okay? Please.'

'Why not?'

'Because I just can't,' I reply, looking back at the laptop.

'Claire...'

'You know what? Maybe you're right… maybe I should go to bed,' I say, quickly standing up and making my way for the door. But he stands up and grabs my wrist, pulling me to a stop.

Of course he wont let it go. I think to myself. This is Shane here!

'Claire, talk to me, please!' he begs.

'And say what?' I sigh, turning back around to face him.

'Tell me why!'

'Because I don't want to have to return to Morganville, Shane! I don't want to have to live back here, where you're not sure if you'll be here again this time tomorrow!'

'But, Claire, this place is better with you around! You made Morganville a safer place for humans… without you here, who knows if it'll one day return to being what it was when you first came here?'

I shake my head, not able to say the words that I had so wanted to tell him back in Hannah and Richard's kitchen.

'Shane-'

'Look, just… just think about it, yeah? You don't have to decide right now. And… I'll wait for you, Claire. No matter how long it takes.' With one last smile, he's walking around me and back out of the kitchen.

'Great,' I mutter to myself once I can no longer hear his footsteps. 'Just… great!'

(Shane's POV)

The next morning we're all sat in the Glass House living room, discussing the plans that me and Claire had arranged the last night. I don't think Claire's looked at me even once today, and that can't be good. Not good at all.

'Right,' Claire says. 'Alice I've come up with the info that you'll need to send out flyers. Here…' she hands Alice the notepad from last night. 'Fit all that onto your design and they'll be good to go. We've also now got a plan of action food wise… we don't want it to be proper full course meals… just one or two things that people can eat during each intervals. It's starting at seven… and ending at ten. I'll perform the first half of the night and Michael can take the second. I haven't decided whether or not we should finish on a duet or something like that, it's up to you,' she adds to Michael, 'there's going to be a ten minute interval every half an hour or so and at half eight we're going to send the message out, after that, Michael takes over. What do you all think?'

'What about decor and stuff?' Bella asks.

'You can work on that today again… we've got time.'

'What about songs?' Eve asks. Claire quickly fills everyone in on the first few song choices that she has decided on so far and, after that, we all get back to work.

(Michael's POV)

Claire's plan's looking more and more promising by the second… even if she has no faith in it herself. Me, Jasper, Carlisle, Edward and Emmet are currently out trying to see if we can get our hands on some equipment… it's not as easy as it sounds.

'Vampires!' We hear someone yell. Straight away we know it's us that have been spotted. Even without Edward's mindreading ability. Vamps aren't so stupid to just wander around outside anymore. Not since the humans have started playing up.

'Crap, run!' Edward hisses. We do, legging it all the way into a small alleyway around the corner of an old, rundown charity shop.

We wait until three guys with stakes run past the entrance of the alleyway before checking to see if the coast's clear. It looks to be.

'Wait!' Edward cautions. 'There's someone else coming!' And, sure enough, two minutes later there's a young girl, about sixteen or seventeen, walking down the road. I hear Edward gasp.

'Destroy the vampires, for the vampeez are destined!' she yells at the top of her lungs.

Huh, vampeez?

'That can't be good,' Edward sighs.

'What's going on?' Emmet asks him.

'There're some new visitors in town… follow me!' Edward mutters.

We follow him out of the alleyway and he starts to follow the chanting girl. What the hell? Before long, we end up at an entrance to the underground tunnels. Uh-oh… Edward was right, this CAN'T be good. Once inside the tunnels, we carry on following the young girl, she's stopped chanting now. She stumbles and trips her way down one of the tunnels, and then makes a right at a junction. Luckily for us, our vamp eyes are better than hers so we can still see where we're going as we turn right as well. We find our way to a trap door. Huh, that's funny, I never knew the tunnels had more than one level.

'She's down there,' Edward whispers.

'What do we do?' Jasper asks, looking over to Carlisle. Carlisle shrugs and looks over to me.

'Michael? It's your call,' He says. Great.

'Erm... I don't know. What's going on down there?' I ask Edward. He shrugs.

'I don't know,' he admits. 'That's the weird part. I can normally read peoples minds until they're a couple of miles away… but I can't hear anything.'

'Great,' I sigh. 'This is exactly what to expect from Morganville…'

'Yeah... that doesn't really help though, man,' Emmet says.

'We should go back, tell the others about what's down here, see what ideas they can come up with and then take it from there. Any objections?' No one seems to have any. 'Good.'

God, if only Claire was here right now, she'd probably know what to do in a situation like this…


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

(Claire's POV) - (The same day)

"Yes! Finally I'm finished!" I announce as I look at the new playlist on my Grooveshark account labelled 'Concert one'.

"You've got your song selection?" Bells asks.

"Yeah."

"Great. One thing down… only about another five thousand things to go," Eve sighs. I sigh along with her.

"Yeah... I know, Eve, but at least it's a start!" I encourage, deciding to keep my own fears of my plan not actually working in my head. The others shouldn't have to suffer my doubts as well.

"What've you got?" Shane asks, coming to stand behind me and look at the playlist from over my shoulder. And, yes, that makes me feel awkward and slightly breathless. Having him so close to me tends to do that and, especially after last night, I can feel myself being drawn back to him. And then I suddenly remember he asked me a question.

"Um…" I say as I lean forward slightly so we're not almost touching. "Well… this." I click the play button and the first song starts to play, running straight into the second one and so on and so forth. The first song's still 'Underground by Avril Lavigne' and the second one's 'Runaway by Pink' the third one's 'Lost in Paradise by Evanescence'. After that there's 'Make me wanna die by The Pretty Reckless', 'We are broken by Paramore', 'Misguided Ghosts by Paramore' and finally there's 'Just tonight by The Pretty Reckless.' Altogether there's seven songs for me to sing before I make my speech roughly around half eight. After that Michael takes over. We're hopefully ending on a duet; depending on what songs I can find that work, because we've all decided that a human and a vampire singing together might help show some of the rebellious humans that we can all live in peace. It's a long shot… but we're all secretly hoping it will do more favours than not.

"Okay, that could work," Rosalie says after the last song's finished. "What now?"

"Now?" I ask. "Now I have to practice the songs… and then perform them." I sigh.

"You'll do great, CB," Eve assures. I smile at her.

"What about you guys? How're you getting on?" I ask, rubbing my temples with my fingers as I recognise another headache coming on. I've been getting a lot of them recently.

"I've actually had an idea," Alice says.

"Uh-oh," Bella sighs.

"Shut up, Bells. Anyway, here's my thought. You said that we should do more than one concert, right?" I nod. "Well… how about this. Seeing as this lot," she motions to Esme, Eve, Rose and Bells, haven't decided on what theme we should do or anything, maybe we could colour coordinate it?"

"What do you mean?" Shane asks, still resting on the back of my chair.

"Well, each night we could have a different colour… the first concert could be purple, the second one blue, the third one red… and so on and so forth. And I could colour coordinate the flyers to fit with the theme. "

"That might not be a bad idea, actually," I say, an idea forming. "If we colour coordinate it then our outfits, the decor, etcetera, would all be one colour. Which would make it easier to plan…"

"And different," Eve finishes for me.

"Yeah. Different. And that's what we want, right? A night that no one will forget so that my little speech sticks in their heads."

"So what colours are we going to use?" Bella asks.

"No pink," Shane says quickly, which has Alice pouting straight away.

I laugh, pushing the headache to the back of my mind and forcing myself to forget it. "Shane's right. I'm not bothered what colours we do, that's up to you guys, as long as the colours are all agreed upon by everyone," I announce.

"How many colours will we need?" Bella asks. "How many concerts are there going to be?"

"Um... three to start with. And we'll take it from there after that. Morganville's really not that big so it won't be many more than that."

Okay, so, in the end we decided on red for the first concert… so Shane's decided to add Chilli to the food selection, blue for the second concert, and black for the last concert. After that Alice, Esme, Bells, Rose and Eve all discuss their new ideas for the theme and I return to rubbing my temples. Nessie's in the kitchen on the phone to Jake… for the fifth time today and is filling him in on our latest ideas. I close my eyes and sigh. Why won't these headaches just find someone else to bug for an hour or two?

"Hey, are you okay?" Shane murmurs, still too close to me. I can't fight it any longer… I can't fight HIM any longer… at least not right now.

"Yeah," I sigh, leaning back into him and noting that how, as I do so, his pulse speeds up. And so does mine. "I've just got a-"

I'm cut off when I hear the front door open and, three seconds later, the guys that went out in search for equipment all race into the living room.

"Claire, I think we've got a problem," Michael informs.

"Headache," I finish, still leaning back against Shane.

"What's going on?" Eve asks.

They quickly fill us in on what happened when they were out and how they followed the girl down into the tunnels.

"What the hell's a Vampeez?" I ask.

"No idea," Shane says. "But my guess is that they have something to do with the humans going completely crack-pot crazy."

"Well then we have to find out," I say. "We have to go find Amelie, or go down to the tunnels, or do something." I stand up, a little too quickly, and my head begins to spin. "Whoa…" I say as the room begins to spin. I'm about to fall, I know I am. Just as my legs start to give out, Shane's there with his arm around my waist as he supports me and keeps me from falling on my butt.

"Mikey," he says. "Why don't you, Edward and some others go and find Amelie and ask her about these Vampeez guys? I think Claire needs to rest for a while."

Michael mutters a quick sure and, with one final worried glance at me, he and Carlisle, Edward, Emmet and Jasper head back out again.

My dizziness has nearly faded by this time and I'm finding it easier to stand on my own… but I don't want Shane's arm to leave my waist for some reason. The reason that I refuse to accept. The reason that will have me living back in Morganville in a heartbeat.

"Shane can you get me a glass of water, please?" I ask. Forcing myself to step out of his arm and sit down next to Alice on the sofa.

"Sure." He walks off into the kitchen.

"You okay, CB?" Eve asks. Shane returns with some water.

"Yeah, I'm good. It's just that having over a year of Morganville's problems crammed into your brain in only the space of a few days is kind of a lot to take in." I take a sip of water. Nessie walks in then… and comes to sit on my lap. Placing a hand to my cheek, she shows an image of Shane in the kitchen wearing a worried expression. I sigh and give her a reassuring smile.

"How's Jake?" I ask, wanting desperately to change the subject.

"Okay. Bored, I guess."

I roll my eyes at that. Of course he's bored without this little monster to keep him company.

Taking another sip of water, I look down at the plans so far. Okay, time to get back to work…

(Shane's POV)

I'm starting to worry about Claire. This is all too much for her and, even though she puts on a good show that can fool the others most of the time, I can still see how much strain she's feeling. And I don't blame her… it totally sucks having to come back to this place after having a taste of freedom. I should know. And, after her little dizzy spell earlier, I don't know if she'll be able to do these concerts…

Which she has to… because, if she doesn't, then there'll be no chance of saving the town. It's getting late now. Mikey and the others returned a while back with the news from Amelie that she has no idea what the hell a Vampeez is and that she'll send some of her men down into the tunnels to check it out. But, apart from that, not even she has any idea about what to do… Which is definitely scary as hell. I mean, if the ice queen doesn't even know what to do… how the hell are we supposed to?

Claire's asleep on the sofa now… the Cullen's left half an hour ago to head back to their temporary home which just leaves the four of us at the Glass House. Eve's sleeping on the other sofa, her head resting on Michael's lap. I'm leaning against their sofa as I watch Claire sleep, thinking back to the memories of when we first started going out.

"If you want her, then you're going to have to fight for her, man," Michael says suddenly, startling me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I say, looking over my shoulder at him.

"Claire. Don't give up on her. I think you're still in with a chance."

"I don't know, man, I think my one chance with Claire died when I let her walk out the door."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Shane… the most relaxed I've seen Claire since she's come back is today when I got back from the tunnels. And guess who she was leaning against then, man. You."

I shrug. Remembering all too well how good it had felt to be so close to Claire again.

"Shut up the pair of you. A girl's trying to sleep here!" Eve mumbles. Me and Michael look at each other and burst out laughing.

"Shh! I mean it!" Eve grumbles.

"Okay. I think it's time to take her up to bed," Michael announces. "Night, man." He helps Eve to her feet and half walks her, half carries her up to bed.

"Yeah, Night!" I sigh and look back over at Claire. It's nearly midnight and I'm tired, it's been a long day. Standing up, I walk over to where she's sleeping but I don't have the heart to wake her. She's exhausted. So I decide to carry her to her room. God, I hope Michael's right.

(Claire's POV)

I don't realise I've fallen asleep on the sofa until I feel the strong arms lift me up off the sofa and carry me up the stairs. I'm too tired to open my eyes so I just snuggle closer to their warm chest without knowing who it is. They open the door to my room and pull the covers back from my bed before placing me down on the soft mattress. My shoes are taken off and I can hear the soft thud of them being chucked in the corner of my room before the covers are pulled back so they're covering me. I feel a hand brush across my forehead as my hairs moved out of my face and then there's the slight pressure of soft lips on my forehead.

"Goodnight, Claire," Shane whispers against my skin before the lips disappear and I hear the door close. And then I drift off into a peaceful sleep, my mind momentarily erasing any thoughts of vampires, vampeez, or rebellious humans.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

(Claire's POV) - (The next morning)

Okay, so I really can't be bothered to get up. I had the best sleep last night that I've had in a long time and I don't want to go and spoil it by going downstairs and remembering all the crap that's been going on recently.

I still don't know what's going on with these Vampeez dude's, which totally sucks. All I know is that Amelie's sending a few of her men down to check it out this morning. So I hope that they'll get it all figured out without any of our, mainly MY, help. I mean, I just can't be doing with yet another task to add to my rapidly growing 'to do' list.

I sigh and look over at my alarm clock. It's nearly eleven. Jesus, I did get a good sleep!

"Okay, it's definitely time to get to work," I tell myself, sitting up and dragging myself out of bed and over to the mirror.

I groan to myself when I see how utterly crap I look. My hairs sticking up all over the place, my skin looks way too pasty to look healthy and I have two dark circles under my eyes due to my lack of sleep over the past few nights.

Okay, time for a shower. I grab some clean clothes and other necessities needed for my shower before heading out into the bathroom, determined to make myself look presentable… which isn't going to be easy.

Once I'm finished in the bathroom I make my way downstairs, dressed in a pink and blue checked top over a white tank top and some blue jeans.

"Morning, CB!" Eve sings when I enter the living room. The Cullen's are already here, already busy at work. Shane's obviously still in bed.

"Hey. Any news from Amelie?" I ask. Michael shakes his head.

"Not yet, but we should hear from her soon," he assures.

"Good."

"There's eggs and bacon still in the pan if you're hungry," Eve informs me.

"Cool. Thanks!" I call as I walk out into the kitchen.

I quickly grab a plate. The food's still warm so I don't have to do anything with it except plate it up and eat it.

"Pass us a plate?" Shane asks, walking into the kitchen. He's dressed in his usual ripped jeans and a T-shirt, his hair still dripping from his shower.

I grab a second plate and hand it to him, not really sure what to say so I decide to stay silent.

"How'd you sleep?" he asks.

"Um... Alright, I guess. You?"

"Yeah, yeah. Good."

"Good…" I say. AWKWARD! I'm vaguely aware of being carried up to bed by strong, warm arms last night. Warm being the key word here, it couldn't have been Michael.

After plating up my own food, I put the remaining bits of bacon on his plate as he heads for the eggs.

"Thanks," he says as I chuck the frying pan in the sink.

"Don't mention it," I say as I head back out into the living room… to find Edward giving me a look that so clearly says, 'What the hell was all that about?' in an annoyingly mocking way.

Shut up. I think to him as I take a seat next to Eve and start to eat.

"Hey, Michael? Would you be able to help me practice later? I haven't sung properly in ages and I might need your help."

"Sure, Claire, just let me know when," he says.

"Thanks." Just then, my phone goes off.

"Hello?" I answer it.

"Hello, Claire," Amelie says, her voice scaring the crap outta me. Scaring me because I've never actually heard so much fear and horror in the Founder's voice before.

My eyes automatically find Edward's, knowing that he can hear exactly what I can.

"Amelie?" I ask. "What's going on?"

That gets everyone in the room's attention. And then I hear the five words that I have been most dreading to hear.

"Claire, I need your help," Amelie admits.

"What's going on?" I repeat.

"I sent three of my men down into the tunnels earlier… only to find them posted around the town on flyers, just like the others. Whatever the Vampeez are, they're responsible for what has been happening to the town."

"What do we do?" I ask. Crap, crap, crap!

"I am not sure… but you need to do something, Claire, because I cannot without being attacked."

"Wait, but- I mean, what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Figure it out. Remember, the sooner you do… the sooner you and your friends can go back home." And, with that, she hangs up.

"Everything okay?" Eve asks.

"No."

"What's happened?" Shane asks. I quickly fill everyone in on the news and then we all just sit there, nobody having a clue on what to do.

"It's good to be back," I sigh sarcastically as I take my plate back out into the kitchen. I know what I have to do… I just wish there was another way…

"I'm going to have to go down there… alone," I say when I return to the living room.

"What? No!" Shane says straight away. "I'm coming with you!"

"No, you're not," I sigh, turning to face him. "If the Vampeez are what're responsible for the humans going insane then they'll already know that you guys are working with Amelie… but I'm new. They don't know me. I could pretend that I've gone against you… I could pretend to betray you guys."

"Claire, that's a long shot. I mean, even if you do manage to convince them… what then?" Michael asks.

"Then I find out as much info as I can… and report it back to you."

I'm not completely sure it'll do any good, but what other choice do we have? These killings can't go on. Who's it going to be next? Michael?

"Claire, no," Edward says.

"I'm going," I say in what I hope is a voice that can't be argued with. Luckily, it was.

"Then at least take Shane with you… or me! Take me!" Eve says.

"NO!" Michael says quickly.

I sigh and look at Eve. "Michael's right, you can't come with me… it's going to be dangerous enough trying to persuade them that I'M on their side, let alone someone who was for definite working against them at one point."

"You can't go alone!" Shane protests.

"Yes, I can. And I will," I reply. God, why can't they just accept the fact! It's not like I want to go any more than they want me to and it's not exactly fun persuading them into letting me do something that I don't want to do.

I look over at Edward.

Please! Just let me do this. I beg him. The quicker we get this sorted out the quicker we go home… and this is the quickest way!

I ignore the way my heart twists at the thought of going home and tell myself to stop being stupid because leaving Morganville again is the best thing to do.

He just looks at me and shakes his head.

No one says anything… and I take that as an opportunity.

"Guys, listen, what else can we do? My plan won't work if Shane or Eve are with me. And it DEFINITELY won't work if there's a vamp with me. I'll be careful, I promise. I'll be fine as long as they don't know I'm working with the vamps because I'm human. And it's not the humans that are being slaughtered, it's the vampires."

"What if something goes wrong?" Jazz asks.

"It won't. However, if they do find out that I'm lying to them… then I'll get the hell outta there, call you, and you can bring me back here."

"Are you sure about this?" Bella asks, her face, along with everyone else's, full of worry.

"Yes."

I look around at all their faces. First the Cullen's, starting with Bella, to Alice, to Edward, to Esme, to Jasper, to Emmet, to Rose, to Carlisle. And then to Michael, Eve and, finally, Shane. I look at him the longest, without even meaning to. I tear my eyes from his and look away.

"Okay?" I ask them.

"Okay," they all say. Well… all except Shane.

(Shane's POV)

"Okay," everyone says, everyone apart from me.

As soon as Claire said that she should go down alone my heart felt like it had been ripped out.

She can't go down alone! It's way too dangerous. I need to try and talk her out of it… but how? Will she even listen to me? Of course she won't… this is Claire and she's determined. I have to try, though. I can't let her go down to the tunnels on her own without even trying.

"So, what now?" Alice asks.

Claire shrugs. "Well, I have to go down into the tunnels soon. If they know about these concerts then they'll know I'm lying."

"So... When?" Bella asks.

"Today," Claire says.

What? NO! Why so soon?

"So, what's the plan?" Eve asks.

Claire shrugs again. "I guess I get my shoes on…" She heads up the stairs.

It's now or never.

Everyone else gets back to work on the planning whilst waiting for her to come back down so I take the opportunity to follow Claire and change her mind.

Once up the stairs I continue down the corridor to where her bedroom door stands open.

She's sat on the bed, halfway through getting her first Sneaker on so she doesn't see me standing there.

"Claire," I say, her head snaps up to look at me. "Please, don't do this…"


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

(Claire's POV)

"Claire," Shane says and I quickly look up at him. What the hell's he doing here? "Please, don't do this…"

"I have-"

"No you don't!" He says, cutting me off and taking a step towards me. I quickly get my other shoe on and stand up. "Look, Claire, this is DANGEROUS!"

"Story of my life," I mutter.

"Claire, please!"

"No."

"God, why are you so stubborn? It's so frustrating!" He half yells.

"Why do you even care?" I ask. "What's so special about me? It's not like we're going out anymore! We haven't been going out for a year now!"

"So stubborn," he repeats in a murmur, shaking his head before walking over to me, grabbing me by the shoulders and kissing me with so much force that I actually have to take a step backwards.

.God!

The problem is... I can't seem to pull away from him. Crap! Why the hell is Shane still able to do this to me? It's not fair!

You know why, it's because you still love him. As much as you did before you left, if not then more. I think to myself.

And that's all it takes for all the defences I've been putting up against Shane to collapse. I kiss him back, my hands twisting in his hair and pulling him even closer.

No! A part of me cries. What about your new life in Forks? Where you don't have to deal with the problems of Morganville! You can't just ditch it! You've worked so hard for it and you're destroying it all right this second!

"I can't do this!" I say, pulling out of his embrace and half running around him to get to the door.

"Wait, stop!" Shane says desperately. "Claire, talk to me!" He grabs my arm and pulls me to a stop.

I turn to face him, my tears about to fall. "I'm sorry," I whisper, gently pulling my arm free and leaving him standing there in my room as I head back out into the corridor. I wipe at my eyes as I run down the stairs and meet up with the others.

"Ready?" I ask.

"Yeah," Eve says.

Edward's watching me with shock, disbelief, and sympathy written all over his face.

You say a word and you're dead. I think at him and he just nods.

"Good. So, I'm going to walk out the front door and pretend to be heading for the shop when I'll actually be looking to see if I can find any humans that are willing to take me down to the tunnels. I'll have my phone with me so I can call you if I need to. Or text, depending on whether or not I'll be overheard."

"If everything goes to plan and you've gotten all the info we need, how will you get back to us?" Shane asks, coming into the room and sitting down on the sofa.

"I'll tell them that, because I'm meant to be on your side, I should be getting back to you so that I can help them take you all down."

"What if that doesn't work?"

"I run."

"Don't like the sound of that," Alice sighs. I look over at her.

"You'll know if something's about to go wrong before I do… so you can send help," I remind her.

"You have so much faith in my visions," she sighs, giving Shane a funny look. "Fine. Okay," She says at last.

"Okay. Good. Guess I'll see you all later then," I say, heading for the front door. As I reach it I turn around and call back, "Keep up with the planning!"

"Good luck!" I hear them call back. And, with that, I leave the house.

(Bella's POV)

Trust my cousin to try and save the day. She's going to end up getting herself killed one of these days!

I wince at that. What a thing to think when I'm not even sure if she'll come back today!

Looking over at Alice I feel a wave of assurance as I remember that Alice is going to be constantly checking up on Claire until she's safe back here. If there's one person that can stop anything happening to Claire, it's Alice.

I remember back to Claire's expression when she came down the stairs. She looked completely freaked. Okay, maybe not to everyone else but, everyone else isn't Claire's cousin, whereas I am. I know these things. And then there was the look that Edward was giving her… I've tried to ask him about what was up with her but he just told me that it wasn't any of his business and that I should ask her myself. Which I can't do. So, here I am, half a nervous wreck because I don't know if Claire will make it home safely and half dying to ask Claire about what happened between her and Shane. And, yes, I do know that it had something to do with Shane because he didn't manage to slip off unnoticed when he ran up the stairs after Claire earlier.

I look over at Alice and see her eyes suddenly changing from focused to unfocused which tells me that she's already trying to interpret how Claire's little mission will turn out.

I just hope she'll come back safely…

(Shane's POV)

Okay, okay. No need to panic. Claire's gone outside, alone, to meet these Vampeez freaks, alone, but that's not a reason to completely freak out, is it? No. It's not. Claire's Claire, she'll come home completely unharmed, she always does.

And I am definitely NOT going to think about the kiss because that won't help any with my not worrying about Claire.

Even though the kiss was absolutely amazing. I mean, it had to be, didn't it? It had to be amazing because it was CLAIRE that I was kissing.

Okay, so I actually didn't go up there to kiss her, I swear. I went up there to try and persuade her to not go along with her plan to save the day. And, as it turns out, it came out backwards. I kissed Claire and she DID go along with her plan to save the day. Okay… so I don't have any complaints about the first one turning out backwards… but I'm still kicking myself about the second one. I should've got Hannah to handcuff her to the radiator, or tied her to a chair or something! You know… like they do in the movies. But I didn't. I let her walk out of the door… again. God, I'm going to kill myself if she doesn't come home safe!

(Claire's POV)

Okay, this is going to work. It has to. But what if doesn't? I could die! NO! I am not going to die! I am going to go along with my plan… and then, after everything in town's back to normal again, I'm going to go back to Forks with the Cullen's. Simple.

But nothing about that is simple. Even the simple part of that isn't simple, not anymore. Because I'm not completely sure whether or not I actually WANT to go back to Forks with the Cullen's. Not after what happened between me and Shane today. I'm still in love with him, I know I am, the only question is… am I in love with him enough to stay here in Morganville?

And, as for the first part, how the hell am I even sure that my plan is going to get me out of the tunnels alive? So many things could go wrong! They might not believe that I'm not helping Amelie… and I could end up dead. They might not let me leave and, when I try to run, I could end up dead. My phone might not work if I'm running and I could end up dead. Hell, Alice might not be able to get to me in time and I could end up dead.

Altogether... not very promising outcomes.

No. If something goes wrong then Alice WILL get to me in time, she has to!

I'm on my way to the shop, like I told the others I'd do, and I'm on the lookout for anyone that could take me to the Vampeez. At first I can't see anyone, the roads are deserted, but then I notice a guy walking along the pavement across the road from me… and he's heading in the direction of the tunnels!

"Hey!" I call out. "Hey, wait up!" He looks up at me startled as I run across the road towards him.

"Um, hi," he says. And then he sees who it is he's talking to and freezes. "I shouldn't be talking to you."

I frown at him. "Why not?"

"Because you're not on my side!" He speeds up his pace and I quickly join him.

"Yeah, about that," I begin. Okay, time to find out if my plan will actually work. "I was kind of hoping you could take me to the, um, Vampeez?" The guy freezes.

"How do you know about them?" he demands.

"Um, I heard some girl shouting about them the other day…"

"Do THEY know?"

"Who? As in Amelie's morons? No, I didn't tell them."

"Why not?"

"Well, here's the thing. Amelie called me back here to help her save the town but, well, to be honest I think that the vamps are getting what they deserve. They've spent too long treating us humans like dirt and, well, now they're the ones being buried in it."

The guy just looks at me for a second before saying two words, "Prove it."

I freeze. "How?"

"Take off the pin."

I look down at my checked top and realise that he's seen Amelie's pin of protection that she gave me when I was still living here. Slowly, I reach up to unclasp the pin and chuck it on the ground. Then I look back up at the guy. He's nodding slowly.

"Okay. I'll take you to the masters… but I can't guarantee you'll make it out alive…"

Ignoring the way my pulse speeds up and the chill runs down my spine at his words I stick my hand out and say, "Deal. My name's Claire."

"Trent," the guy replies, shaking my hand. I'm surprised to realise that Trent can't be much more than a year or two older than me. He's got a cute face, the sort of face that would let him get away with murder. Another chill shoots down my spine as I tell myself that I may not be straying too far from the truth there.

I look over at Trent as we head for the underground tunnels. Could Trent be one of the people who've been killing all the vamps? He seems like too much of a nice guy to be a murderer… but that doesn't necessarily mean he's innocent.

Okay. I think to myself as the entrance to the tunnels comes into view. Let's get this over with.


	32. Chapter 32

**Hey guys! I know I haven't update in agesss and i'm so sorry about that. I've been writing on Fictionpress and dealing with GCSE's and stuff. Anyway, I looked at my story stats earlier and was surprised to see how popular my story's are still even though they haven't been updated in like a year or something stupid like that. Thank you all for the support of this story, I will be trying to update it more regularly now. Sorry if this chapter's pretty rubbish, i'm getting back into the swing of the storyline so you may have to bare with me for the next few chapters. If you want to check out any of my story's on Fictionpress then my account name is 'Keyleigh S Perham', and i'd love to hear any opinions or anything that you have on the stories on there as well. So, yeah, i'm going to let you get on with reading this chapter now because you've waited much too long for this already... enjoy! :) x**

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><p>Chapter 32 – (Claire's POV)<p>

All I can hear as I stumble along behind Trent is the sound of our footsteps. The tunnels are dark, with absolutely no light shining in to show us the way. Although, Trent doesn't really seem to need it.

I wonder just how many times he must travel down these twisting turning tunnels in one day and, by the looks of it, it's quite a few.

My pulse starts to speed up as I realise what I'm about to do. I'm about to come face to face with these Vampeez people without any of my friends beside me.

Oh, wow, oh crap!

My foot trips over something and I just about stop myself from going flying as the sound of something hollow clacking against the floor echoes around me. It sounds very much like a bone and I try and discourage the thought before it has enough time to properly form in my head.

Thinking about bones and death is not what I need to be thinking about whilst walking down a pitch black tunnel with a complete stranger. Nor is it a thought I want to trigger off one of Alice's visions, if that happens and the cavalry storms in then my cover is blown and we could all end up dead.

I try and distract myself from my negative thinking and I end up with my train of thoughts stopping at the Shane station. I can't believe I kissed him! Actually, I can't believe he kissed me! I mean, what the actual hell? And then there's the whole, Edward knows and will probably never ever let it go in a million years, situation.

Isn't my life just great? I mean, one minute it was pure paradise, then I get called back to this death trap of a town, have to deal with seeing my ex-boyfriend, have to try and avoid my ex-boyfriend whilst, once again, sorting out one of Morganville's problems, then I end up kissing my ex-boyfriend right after the town's problem increases, and now, here I am, possibly walking to my death. See what I mean…? Perfect.

The sound of creaking metal enters my ears and I stop dead in my tracks as the tunnel's suddenly illuminated by a feint light.

Trent's lead me down a maze of turns and tunnels, and is now opening a trap door on the floor and motioning for me to climb down the big metal ladder first.

Great.

I start my climb down the rusty ladder, the rough metal scraping against my palm slightly and probably staining my clothes a rusty orange colour.

Double great.

I jump off the ladder at the bottom and end up in another corridor/tunnel. Only, this time, there're no junctions to turn down and it's illuminated by candles.

I stand facing the only door at the very end of the corridor, growing more and more anxious by the second.

Oh, crap. Oh, crap. Oh, crap! What have I let myself in for…?

I follow Trent to the door and he removes a large silver key from his pocket and unlocks the door, swinging it open and motioning for me to follow him in.

He looks just as nervous as me and, suddenly, what little confidence I have left in this plan completely breaks.

I walk into a little square room which has eight more doors, three on either side and two in front of me.

That's when one of the doors to my right opens and an extremely familiar (yet not so familiar) face stands before me.

"Jason?" I squeak.

"Hey, Claire, long time no see," Jason replies.

Well, at least I think it's Jason… it sounds like Jason… it acts like Jason… but whatever the hell it is, it's definitely not human.

He still looks weedy, with the same mop of black hair and creepy closed off expression, but the weird tone to his skin gives away that something is definitely not right. And so do his eyes. His normal pale skin is now even paler, with a few swirls and splotches of greyish black thrown in, it looks like a sort of marble effect…

And his eyes, his eyes are no longer human either, with his irises all but completely invisible to his large pupils. The pupils themselves are completely white, with the thin ring of the black iris's circling them, standing out against the whites of his eyes.

Definitely not the same as I saw last…

"What the hell are you?" I blurt out before I can stop myself.

He flashes me a quick evil grin. "Why, I'm a Vampeez, of course, and you are definitely not welcome here."

With closer inspection of his teeth, I try not to scream at the jagged pointy sharp things occupying his mouth.

I flicker my eyes back to his, quickly composing myself before continuing this conversation.

"I'm done with the vampires," I say, forcing my voice to sound flat and honest.

"Oh, CB," he says with a sigh, and I try not to cringe at the use of his sister's nickname for me. "I think we both know that's a lie."

"No. I'm not lying. I am done with the vampires."

"Oh, really? And why might that be?"

I force my eyes to roll as if it's the most obvious thing in the world when, in actual fact, I'm completely making it up off the top of my head.

"I was perfectly happy until I got called back to this crappy town." Okay, so that bit's true. "All I want is to go back to where I came from, and be over with this entire ordeal. Honestly? I don't care about the vampires anymore. I just want to get out of this town again, and the quickest way to do that is to join the winning team, and the Vampeez are definitely in the lead." Okay, the rest of that was complete and utter garbage.

I watch as he considers my words for a few seconds, his head tilting from side to side in consideration.

I still can't get over the marble effect of his skin. I mean, how creeptastic is that?

For the first time, I notice that Trent has somehow managed to slip off somewhere and that I'm standing completely alone with Jason.

"Okay," Jason says finally. "I'll take you to the masters, see what they make of this story, and then we'll know."

"Know what?" I ask, feeling as though I won't want to hear the answer.

"Know if you get to live or die."

Yep, I knew it.

He says it so seriously, so honestly, that I automatically want to run. There was nothing cruel or nasty about the way he said it; he just spoke as if it's an actual fact, and that scares me more than anything Jace has ever said before.

He starts walking and I follow…

Possible death, here I come…


End file.
